A Half Second Dream
by yamatoforever
Summary: Fuji's birthday fic,lots of angst.Fuji hates his birthday & never mention about it to anyone.But this year Eiji determined to not let him get away easily with the help of the regulars and even other schools.Would their friendship melt Fuji's frozen heart?
1. When Is Fuji’s Birthday?

Hi! This is my first Tennis No Ohjisama fic. Since Fuji's birthday is coming, I decided to give him a birthday gift. Though I'm not sure if he would like it since I made him so miserable in this story. It seems that I have a tendency to make my favourite characters suffer ne?

There's no pairings yet decided for this fic. Maybe later in the next chapters.

Thanks to Ishka-chan for beta it so the fic is more readable than the original was.

Disclamer : I don't own Tennis No Ohjisama. It's all Konomi Takeshi's. TT

Words in /….: someone's thoughts

Words in _Italic_ : flashback

A Half-Second Dream

Chapter 1 : When Is Fuji's Birthday?

_Prologue_

_There were two little boys standing at the side of a walkway lined with withered cherry trees. Everything they could see was covered in white. In front of them was a wooden box, and on top of it were Snow Drops flowers. At the very center of the box, the little pots of flowers surrounded a cake._

_The boy with a dark brown hair kneeled and a candle shaped like the number seven in the middle of the cake and lit it. He then stood and looked seriously to the other boy that had a lighter brown hair._

_"Now, Shuu, the twenty-ninth of February is magical. People who are born on that day are rare and special. Only the chosen ones. Because of it's magical power, the door to that date couldn't be opened every year. It would only be opened every 4 years."_

_"But…!" the dark brown hair boy raised his voice. "Every year between those 4 years, the door to the twenty-ninth of February would crack open a little. It is between the midnight and a second after midnight, when the 28th of February would shift to the first of March."_

_The boy took a deep breath and said, "Tonight we will try to sneak into the twenty-ninth of February together. Are you ready?"_

_Shuu looked at the boy with eyes wide, innocent and eager. He seemed hypnotized by the words. He nodded solemnly. The other boy took his stopwatch from his pocket and looked at the time._

_"Get ready!"_

_Shuu kneeled closer to the candle._

_"In 5… 5, 4, 3, 2, ONE!"_

_Shuu quickly blew the candle. The other boy clicked his stopwatch to halt it and cheered._

_"You did it! That was close. Look!"_

_The time showed 00:00:00:55. And for the first time since they came to the place Shuu smiled. He smiled softly, tears threatening to fall from his eyes._

_"Otanjobi omedetou, Shuu."_

_"Thank you. It is the best birthday I've ever had."_

_The other boy smiled tenderly while his finger brushed the tears that escaped to Shuu's face._

_"Let do this again next year. And the years after. Even if there _is_ a February 29 at that year, I want to be the first person who say happy birthday to you."_

_Shuu could only nod since he couldn't trust himself to speak._

_---_

Fuji Shuusuke had just entered the clubroom with Kikumaru Eiji, chatting amiably. He placed his bag down and unzipped it, then pulled out his Seigaku jersey and racket to get ready for practice. When he glanced at the notice board inside the clubroom, he noticed that it was already the first day of February.

'Oh… so it's this time of the year again.'

"NYA! Were you listening to me, Fuji?"

Fuji was startled by Eiji's yelling at his ear.

"Uhm, sure. You were talking about the presents that your cousin got for his birthday right?"

Eiji frowned and scrutinized him, making the latter shift uncomfortably in his seat. Finally the energetic red head gave up and smiled again. Fuji sighed in relief.

"By the way, what do you want for a birthday present?" Eiji asked, looking more excited than Fuji himself.

Fuji was caught off guard by the question and answered it almost immediately. "A half-second dream."

He cursed himself upon realizing that he accidentally let the words slip. Eiji just blinked at him.

"Huh? What?" Eiji asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Never mind, Eiji. Just kidding." Fuji gave the best smile that he could flash, trying to cover his inner turmoil.

"Seriously, what do you want for your birthday? And when is your birthday?"

"Why, Eiji, I'm hurt." Fuji pouted theatrically. "You don't know when my birthday is?"

"I would know if you told me!" Eiji said defensively. "I asked you two years ago, remember? But you said it already passed. And then I asked you again last year, but you said it's still too early."

Fuji chuckled. "And you forgot to ask me again?"

Eiji opened his mouth, about to speak, but closed it again.

"I'm a bad best friend am I?" Eiji blushed, looking somewhat hurt.

"No, of course not." Fuji said soothingly. "Don't think too much about it, Eiji. "

"If you really want to make me feel better, then tell me!" Eiji looked at him with puppy eyes.

"Oh alright." Fuji sighed and said. "My birthday is…"

Eiji eagerly put his ear close to Fuji's mouth.

"Hi. Mi. Tsu." Fuji smiled pleasantly.

"NYAA!" Eiji yelled frustrated when he realized his most deadly strategies to pretend guilty and put on his most adorable puppy eyes both failed.

Fuji just laughed.

"Gomen ne, Eiji. I can't help it. You should see your face."

Eiji pouted cutely as Fuji continued to laugh.

"But seriously, thanks Eiji. I'm really touched. But you know, it's not a tradition to celebrate birthday in my family. Last time we celebrated my birthday was 8 years ago. I'm used to it. It would just make me feel awkward to celebrate it now."

Eiji looked at him with wide eyes.

"But… But… You never have birthday presents anymore since your sixth birthday? That's awful!"

Fuji inwardly cursed again, realizing that his attempt to make Eiji let go of the matter only backfired.

"It's okay, really. I already have everything that I want. Um, Eiji, I have something for you."

Fuji quickly opened his bag and took a toothpaste. Eiji's face brightened considerably.

"Yay! Toothpaste! I don't have this brand yet!" Eiji started bouncing around. "Where did you get it? Oh, it's melon flavour too. I haven't tried this flavor before. Wow…!"

Fuji sighed silently in relief when he finally managed to distract Eiji. He knew it was a smart and cautious action to always put some things that Eiji liked a lot- like toothpaste, a key holder shaped like a cute bear, and so on. But he realized it just kept getting harder and harder each year. Maybe it was a mistake to let someone become so close to him. He knew that each time people became attached to each other they would always want to know everything about one another. And he was still not quite ready to open up yet.

---

It was just like any other days. The other tennis club members went home after a tiring practice session except for the regulars. But maybe Oishi was wrong. Somehow he could feel that his partner would drop the bomb anytime. How he could know it he didn't quite sure himself. Maybe it was what made them the Golden Pair?

As soon as Fuji left the club house, Kikumaru suddenly blurted.

"Nya, does anyone know when Fuji's birthday is?"

That simple question caught everyone off guard. The regulars looked at each other. Even Tezuka, who had already mastered the art of hiding all his emotions behind his façade of stone, seemed distracted by the question.

Oishi then broke the uncomfortable silence, knowing that, judging from the looks of their faces, no one knew the answer.

"Um, Eiji, we don't know. Sorry. Please tell us." Oishi grinned at his partner sheepishly.

What Oishi wanted to say next didn't come out when he saw his partner's crestfallen expression.

"Eiji, you do know when is Fuji's birthday… right?" Oishi said carefully.

"I don't know! He wouldn't tell me!" Eiji yelled, upset.

"Why don't you push him to tell you, Kikumaru-sempai? I remember that you kept nagging at Mamushi until he told you what his favourite food is."

Kaidoh hissed when Momoshiro reminded him about that incident. But nonetheless he was curious too. True to what Baka said, Kikumaru Eiji was a persistent guy who would never accept 'no' for an answer. And he could be so annoying (though he would never say it out loud because it would be disrespectful to his senpai). And all his victims always relented to what his want.

"I tried!" Eiji said defensively. "I even cornered him more than once. But then…" Eiji looked down and started pressing the tips of his index fingers together.

"But then…?" Oishi pressed.

"Etoo… Um… he gave me a brand new toothpaste this time. And and… A key holder with a very cute bear shape last year… And a higuma plushie, and…"

Eiji's voice softened until it became a whisper.

"In other words, you've been bailed." Ryoma smirked, earning a murderous glare from Eiji in return.

"Um, if Fuji doesn't want to talk about it, maybe we shouldn't push him." Oishi said carefully while scratching his head.

"Nya, you're wrong, Oishi!" Eiji answered, looking determined. "You don't know anything. Fuji said it was not a tradition in his family to celebrate birthday. He never celebrates his birthday anymore since 8 years ago!" He took a deep breathe before he continue.

"You see? He never has birthday presents anymore since 8 years ago. Can you imagine it? That's so sad!"

Everyone except Tezuka and Inui looked at Eiji with wide eyes. The glasses concealed well what they had in mind. No birthday presents? Well, it would be hard for them. It would seem like no one cared for them, right?

"I had cornered him today. I think I caught him off guard when I asked what he wanted for his birthday. He accidentally said he wanted a half second dream for his birthday present."

"Huh? What kind of present is that?" Momoshiro asked confused.

"I don't know! He immediately covered his slip and said it was just a joke." Then Eiji added in a small voice, looking thoroughly embarrassed. "And that was when he distracted me."

"Hmm, it is not a one-hundred percent assumption, and maybe it's even all wrong since Fuji is never one to shows his true self… But there's something that bothers me about his data."

Everyone took their attention to Seigaku's data play specialist.

"Well, it's…"

Tsuzuku…(To Be Continue...)

A cliffhanger. Sorry about it. So what do you think? Should I continue it? Any flames or suggestions would be accepted. I know I still need a lot to learn.

Snow Drops : it means hope in flower language. Their blossom at the winter.

Otanjobi omedetou : happy birthday

Himitsu : secret


	2. Watching The Sea Horses

Disclamer : I don't own Tennis No Ohjisama. It's all Konomi Takeshi's. TT Also the sea horses thing is from The Duck Of Mr. Fredward by Ushijima Keiko.

Words in /….: someone's thoughts

Words in _Italic_ : flashback

A Half-Second Dream

Chapter 2 : Watching The Sea Horses

Fuji could feel Eiji's eyes scrutinizing him. He pretended to act like nothing was wrong.

/Stop it, Eiji. Don't you know that it suffocates me/ Fuji kept chanting silently to not avail.

So he did the only thing that he could think of. He fled as soon as possible after the practice ended with random excuses. He could sense, even without looking at Eiji, that his friend was looking at him suspiciously, but he didn't want to think about it at the moment. Nor about the consequences that might follow later. He just needed to get away- and fast- before the crack in his smiling façade became wider.

He kept walking automatically without even thinking about it, until he realized that he was standing near the coast. He blinked in surprise. He didn't even remember that he had taken a train to go to Chiba.

To that beach.

_Their_ beach…

Fuji went to the special spot that they used to go. He looked at the big rock near the sea. He watched at the waves that broke after crashing to a rock.

/The sea horses…/

---

"Well, I don't have Fuji's birthday data," Inui said as he adjusted his glasses.

"Hoi?" Eiji gasped theatrically. "And you're supposed to be the everyone's Official Stalker! Shame on you, Inui." Eiji shook his head, feigning disappointment. The others snickered.

Everyone except Tezuka, of course.

Ryoma, however, noticed the subtle twitching of his eyebrows, making the little one smirk.

Inui adjusted his glasses, making the spectacles glint as it momentarily reflected the sunlight.

"First of all, Kikumaru, I am not a stalker. Everything I do is for the sake of science. Secondly, I think that all the third grades remember that Fuji joined the tennis club at the middle of the second semester."

"Huh? Why did Fuji-sempai wait that long to join the club?" Momoshiro asked confused.

Ryoma frowned while Kaidoh's hiss could be heard clearly. They also couldn't understand why it took Fuji that long to join the club, since they were all eager to join the famed tennis club of Seishun Gakuen.

"Unyaa, now that's you mentioned it, I remember. He transferred to Seigaku at the beginning of second semester right? But he joined the club almost a month later."

"I had overheard Ryuzaki-sensei's conversation with Yamato-buchou."

Everyone looked doubtfully at Inui. Only an idiot would believe that he just 'happened to be there' and 'accidentally heard them talking'. They themselves learned the hard way that there is no such thing as coincidence when Inui Sadaharu is involved.

"It seems that Fuji didn't join the tennis club willingly. He didn't register to any clubs. But Ryuzaki-sensei tricked him into believing that part of the school rules is that every student should join at least one club. And since he still decided on which one to join, she kindly offered to select a club for him after reading his background."

"Yamato Buchou replied that Fuji would become a valuable player for Seigaku. His statement made me so curious. I kept my eyes on Fuji since then because I wanted to see his true power. But he's really too good in hiding his ability. I couldn't see anything special in him until one of the senpais accidentally smashed a ball to court where he and other freshmen practiced the swing. Fuji hitted the ball back with an accuracy and skill that matches that of a pro's. "

Tezuka narrowed his eyes. Of course he remembered it too. It was the first time he realized there was something more in Fuji than the boy showed.

"At our second grade, I helped Ryuzaki Sensei to collect the data of our freshmen's registration. I also rearranged the data of the third graders and second graders. I found out that there was something missing in Fuji's registration data. The missing data was his birth date and the name of the school he was in before he entered Seigaku. I tried to search the missing data at the student case file at the secretary's office only to find out that Fuji's data wasn't there either."

"What did Shinohara-sensei say about it?" Oishi asked.

"What about her?" Inui frowned, not understood.

"Uhm… Since she let you search Fuji's data at the student case file, surely she would have answered your questions about the missing data?"

"Who said that she'd let me?" Inui lifted his eye brow.

Everyone looked at him with wide eyes.

"But… but you… How could you… Uh, never mind."

Inui continued his speech like Oishi never interrupted him.

"So I searched it at the head master's office but still couldn't find it. My guess is Fuji's data is hidden at the safety box at that office. Too bad I still couldn't find the combination code till now."

Everyone were silently grateful for that. Just how far would Inui go in the name of the data-gathering?

"Anyway, that's make me believe that there's something about Fuji's data that the teachers couldn't let any of the students know."

There's a long silence after that. Everyone thought about the shocking news that they just heard about their Tensai.

"And the connection of this with Fuji-sempai's birthday is…?" Ryoma lifted his eye brow.

Inui readjusted his glasses and smiled.

"I thought you would never ask. Well, maybe any of you also realize that Fuji is rarely sick. But each year there are two times that he wouldn't go to school. When the teachers would call his house, Fuji's sister would tell them that he's sick. I found out that it was strange that she didn't call the school to inform them about Fuji's sickness but only told them after they called her."

"What is so strange about Fuji getting sick?" Eiji stared at Inui like Inui had gone mad. "That just means that Fuji's just as normal as we are, right?"

Ryoma wanted to ask 'who's normal among the Seigaku regulars anyway?' but bit back the comment. Just because arguing with Eiji-sempai was never a good idea- unless he wanted to go home with broken ear drums.

"Fuji didn't go to school at December 6th till December 15th and at February 16nd to March 4th at his first grade. Then at December 4th till December 14th and February 22nd till March 5th at his second grade. So you see there's a sort of pattern here. One is at early December and the second is at the middle of February till the beginning at March. This time, he didn't show up at December 8th till December 17th. There's a 98.96 percent chance that he would repeat this pattern at the coming weeks."

The silence that engulfed them after Inui disclosed that was almost unnerving.

"There're… there're repeated dates. Patterns… like what Inui-senpai said. And it's too obvious to let it pass as a mere coincidence." Momoshiro whispered.

"I don't like to voice something that the possibility still under 70 percent, but there's a 58.87 percent chance that Fuji's birthday is between that pattern. And there's a 65.52 percent chance that Fuji's birthday is at the first pattern."

"December? But that means his birth month is the same as Ochibi's."

Everyone looked at Ryoma.

Ryoma blinked. "What?"

"But but… That also means it had already passed!" Eiji looked like he was about to burst into tears.

"Eiji…" Oishi moved closer to his doubles partner and patted him "Inui's not yet absolutely sure about that. It's still just a wild guess, okay?"

"Why do you think Fuji's birthday falls at the first pattern?" Tezuka asked casually.

"There's a 89.69 percent chance that Fuji's absence at the middle of February has something to do with Fuji Yuuta, because his- I mean Yuuta's- birthday falls on the fifteenth. Since the relation between them was not on good terms during those years, I think Fuji's absence has a relation with his younger brother's birthday."

Everyone frowned slightly after hearing that. How the hell did Inui know when Fuji Yuuta's birthday is? The question wasleft hanging since everyone realized that they didn't really want to know how Inui knew about it. 

"But this year their relationship finally started to get better after our match with St. Rudolph." Kawamura finally said. 

"Every time, before Fuji repeats the pattern, I could notice subtle differences in his behavior. First, his smile would be tighter and much forced by about 5.95 percent to 15.97 percent, before he would suddenly stop going to school. Secondly, the percentage that his eye lids would close increases from 51.75 percent to 83.21 percent. Third, he would become somewhat distant and about 18.36 percent to 30.84 percent quieter than usual."

Momo nudged Ryoma's elbow. "Sounds like someone you know?" He whispered, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Well, that would be hard for us to notice, ne?" Oishi pondered out loud, looking somewhat guilty. "I mean, I wouldn't think it's unsual for Fuji to close his eyes. And the percentages of the first and third symptoms are so small that before we knew it, he'd already be absent from school."

"But Inui-senpai noticed it. Fssshh." Kaidoh added.

"Well, Inui-senpai himself is unusual." Momoshiro snickered.

Inui sent him a warning look.

Momoshiro gulped.

"I think I should inform you. I saw the first stage of the symptoms in Fuji today. That surprised me since it was earlier than the data that I already collected."

"It was because of me, right?" Eiji whispered, looking deflated. "Because I kept nagging him about his birthday."

"Eiji…" Oishi looked at him sympathetically.

"That's it!" Eiji perked up. "I've had enough of this mystery. Everything seems to connect with birthdays, his and his younger brother's! I'll find out what is so forbidden about Fuji's birthday! And there's only one way to do it! I'll ask Yuuta personally." Eiji shouted suddenly.

"What? Eiji…"

"No, Oishi. I've made up my mind. I'll go to St. Rudolph this Saturday!" Eiji said, eyes burning with determination.

---

"Na, Saeki, hurry up! I'm hungry!" Aoi Kentarou shouted.

"Tell me something new." Saeki Kojirou said teased.

After a long and exhausting practice game, the Rokkaku regulars planned to stop at their favorite ramen shop. Suddenly Saeki's mobile rang. Saeki's smile brightened when he heard that ring tone.

"Yo, Fuji. What's up?" Saeki answered cheerfully.

"Saeki…"

Something in Fuji's voice alarm bells ring inside him.

"Fuji? What's wrong?" Saeki asked anxiously, ignoring the curious glance from his team mates.

"Iie. It's nothing. I just wanted to hear your voice. Sorry. Am I bothering you?"

Saeki frowned, doubtful. He knew him too well to know that something was not right.

"Where are you now?"

There was silence. When Saeki thought Fuji would hang up, finally he heard an answer.

"It doesn't matter. I'm on my way home in a moment. Ja, Sae."

"Wait, Fuji… Fu…"

Fuji already hung up.

He thought he had heard something familiar at the background of Fuji's voice. Something like the wind and…

/Of course. The ocean./

"…ki. SAEKI!" He jumped when he heard someone calling- more like yelling at- him. When he looked around, he noticed that the other regulars looked worried.

"Is there something wrong with Fuji? Why did you sound so strange?" Itsuki asked. "I've been calling you, but it looks like you didn't hear me at all. You-"

"Look." Saeki interjected. "I'm sorry. I don't think I can go to the ramen shop with you guys. I forgot that I already had an appointment. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

Without waiting for an answer, Saeki just fled.

---

_The three boys finally reached the coast. Shuu was breathing hard. Behind him, the white hair boy grumbled._

"_Just what did you want to show us? You kept us walking this far. Don't tell me that you just want to watch the sunset!"_

_The other boy with dark brown hair just laughed and pointed to the rock that was surrounded by waves._

"_Look! The sea horses!"_

_The other boys looked at rock with wide eyes. _

"_Where?" The white-haired boy insisted._

"_There!" _

_He looked where the boy was pointing to, and looked at the bottom of the rock._

"_I can't see them! Are you playing with us?" The white-haired boy yelled, getting frustrated._

_The dark brown hair boy just laughed._

"_Oh, come on, Koji. Use your imagination. Don't you see that the waves that break free at the rock? They look just like horses' head, don't they?"_

"_Ah!" Shuu said when realization dawned on him._

"_What's so special about them?" Koji frowned._

"_Have you ever heard the story of the sea horses?" _

_The other two shook their heads. _

"_Do you see the waves? Look closer at the waves hitting against the rock. They look just like horses' heads trying to break free from the ocean to reach the sky. There's a story that the sea horses are the souls of people that already died. The dead people who left unfinished dreams are trying to break free from the ocean so they could be born again. They want to come back to the world and fulfill the dream that they left behind. They try hundreds- perhaps thousands- of times to reach the rock only to fall down again. It is so sad. They disappear with the waves' foam..."_

"_Is there… one of the sea horses that could break free from there?" Shuu whispered, tears threatening to fall from his eyes that matched the color of the ocean._

"_It was just a story, Shuu. But, Shuu, isn't it much better to try as hard as we can, rather than surrender? I like the side of you that is just like the sea horses… always trying all they can to escape from the ocean."_

_Shuu just looked down. He felt sad for the sea horses. He felt like if he didn't try harder, the tears will really fall from his eyes._

"_Let's make a promise." The boy said suddenly. "We won't become the sea horses. We would never be one of them."_

_He lifted his right hand up. _

_Shuu and Koji looked at each other before they reached their hand to hold their friend's hand._

"_From today, whenever we are sad or feeling down, let's go to this place to watch the sea horses. So we would be reminded not to end up as one of them."_

---

Fuji felt someone was sit beside him. He didn't look up.

"How did you know that I'm here?" He asked quietly, looking ahead.

Saeki just smiled and looked at the ocean. "This is the perfect place to see the sea horses, right?'

Fuji just didn't say anything.

"What was the story about the sea horses again? The waves are like horses' heads that try to break free from the ocean to reach the sky. The sea horses are the souls of people that already died with unfinished dreams. They try to break free from the ocean so they could be born again to fulfill the dream that they left behind. They try thousands of times to reach the rock only to fall down again and disappear with the waves' foam."

Fuji kept silent.

Saeki sighed.

"What's wrong? It's still too early."

/Too early to start mourning for him all over again./ Saeki added it silently.

Fuji still didn't say anything.

So he gave up and just sat quietly beside Fuji.

Saeki didn't notice time passed, but by the time he paid any attention to his surroundings, the moon was already reflected by the ocean.

"Here."

Fuji looked at the plastic glass that Saeki held to him and at the water bottle at his left hand.

"I'm not thirsty."

"Take it!" Saeki's voice sounded more like an order, not a request. So Fuji gave in and took it. When the glass' tip reached his lips, Saeki spoke right before he drank.

"Look. The moon is in your hands."

Fuji looked at the moon's silhouette at the water's surface inside at the glass and he looked up to the real thing up at the sky. He didn't understand where the conversation was headed for.

"The moon is beautiful. Her light is gentle, not blinding like the sun. Yet she could cast away the darkness with her grace. Now the moon is in your hands. With drinking it, the moon's power will fill you. Her warmth will softly cover you and her light will illuminate the darkness of sorrow within you. No matter what your problems are, her power will gently support you." Saeki softly yet confidently spoke, like a sorcerer casting a spell.

Fuji looked at the glass, hypnotized, and slowly drank the water.

And then, he finally started to open up.

"It was him, right?"

Saeki twitched. "Hmm, I knew I couldn't get it past you. Yes, it was him."

"How?"

"Well, you see, he had listed what to do and what to say when you are sad and down. And this is one of them."

"The others are…?"

Saeki just shook his head and said cheerfully.

"S-e-c-r-e-t. I should save it for later use, don't you think?"

Fuji stared at him. Finally he sighed and gave a little smile.

"It's getting pretty late now. Do you want to sleep over at my place?" Saeki stood up and offered his hand to Fuji.

"Thanks. But no, I think I'll just go home." Fuji stood up on his own, ignoring Saeki's hand.

"Look, Fuji. Don't push yourself, okay?"

"Saeki, I'm fine, really." Then Fuji's usual smile took its rightful place. "I just drank the moon, remember?"

Saeki could still hear a hint of sadness in his voice, but he could tell that his friend was more or less feeling better now. At least, better than when he had just found him sitting at their secret place earlier.

"Fine." Saeki sighed. "Just be careful all right? It's getting pretty late."

Fuji nodded and started to leave.

"Fuji…"

Fuji stopped and glanced to him.

"It's nothing." Saeki shook his head, smiling slightly. "Never mind. Take care."

Fuji smiled back softly, then nodded and left.

As he watched Fuji's retreating back, Saeki sighed.

/Am I not enough? Am I not enough to be your shoulder to cry on/

---

Tsuzuku…

Ah, it's longer than the first chapter. Hope you like it.


	3. At The Tennis Street Court

Disclamer : Still not own Tennis No Ohjisama.

Words in /….: someone's thoughts

Words in _Italic_ : flashback

I want to thank you everyone who had review to this story. You're really made me feel love. Hontou hontou ni arigatou! Thanks to syuusuke-kunimitsu117229 to correct me about Yuuta's birthday. I had re-edit chapter 2.

For susaku, ltifal, and TearLess-Dream, sorry. I think I would just stick to friendship. I think it would suit this story better. I don't have anything against yaoi. In fact I love TezuFuji (there're a lot of angst fics about them), FujiRyo (I have read a lot of fun and sad ones of this pairings, like the ones that Ishka-chan wrote), and any other pairings as long as Fuji was one of them. I would let the possibilities open at the end (depend how you would think about it) so you could pair Fuji with the one your chose in your mind or even to let them be friend forever.

And many thanks to Ishka-chan to beta this fic. You're truly an angel.

A Half-Second Dream

Chapter 3 : At The Tennis Street Court

Fuji acted casually. Nobody said anything but he knew that the problem was there. It was like a silent agreement for them not to bring it up. So he chose to play along.

Later, Inui secretly told Tezuka that the first stage of Fuji's symptoms of depression seemed to have vanished. It seemed that Fuji already had a better hold on himself.

If it depended on him, Oishi would choose to let it stay that way. It really unnerved him to think that they would interfere with Fuji's personal life. After all, this little detective game might offend the Tensai, and perhaps would disturb the whole team as well.

It might even break them.

Of course, Oishi knew too that it would just be a matter of time before he'd give in to Eiji's persistence. He knew all along that if Eiji had made up his mind about something, he would never back down. Besides, Eiji got Inui's full support this time around.

Eiji told him eagerly that Fuji's younger brother would be at the tennis street courts at nine in the morning at Saturday, so the acrobatic player also told the others to gather there thirty minutes earlier.

When Momo asked which of the street tennis courts he was talking about, Eiji winked.

"Oh, you know, that one where you had a date with Ann-chan."

Momo gaped. "E... Eiji-senpai! How many times have I told you, that wasn't a date! That wasn't a date at all!"

Eiji snickered.

Amidst the joking around, Oishi mused that how Inui gathered all that information was beyond his imagination. He looked helplessly at Tezuka to ask his opinion about this. Tezuka just stayed quiet. He didn't say anything against it nor did he approve it. Finally Oishi just sighed. Oh well, at least he could try to not make it more worse if he comes with them.

---

Surprisingly, it was Oishi who came first to their rendezvous. He sat at the end of the stairs that lead to the tennis court. He thought back to all the information he heard the past days. It shocked him to realize that Fuji was really their good friend but they weren't for the latter.

Oh, he would never doubt Fuji's feelings for them. He knew without a doubt that the tensai would seek revenge if someone even so much as tried to hurt his family and friends. He still remembered Fuji's expression after Kawamura's match with Kabaji, after Tezuka's match with Atobe that shook the world… and more importantly… the look in his eyes before his match with Kirihara Akaya. If the looks could kill… Oishi had never seen Fuji look that angry except that one time when Mizuki put Yuuta's arm at risk.

It was only later that Oishi found out that it was because Kirihara had apparently badly injured Echizen's knee right before the finals.

Oishi sighed. So it wasn't only Fuji who was good at hiding his pains. So was Echizen. Right after the young genius' match against Sanada, Oishi almost fainted when he found he saw a rather big gash on Echizen's knee. The little one was fighting against Sanada with that kind of injury… But Fuji knew all along. And he didn't stop Echizen from the match. Just like Tezuka during Echizen's match against Shinji, Fuji believed in him too.

Yes, Fuji was truly their friend. He always listened to them, always knew when someone had a problem even when that someone didn't say anything. He remembered all their birthdays and any other day that were precious to them. He also remembered their favorite things and always remembered to bring it for them when he found those things.

Yet Fuji never said anything about himself. He would joke around with them about common things. He never said anything about his family either. But they knew how much he loves his family and how possessive he was about them. Especially when it came to his little brother.

The memory was still fresh in Oishi's mind. How Fuji humiliated Mizuki after he found out what the boy had done to his little brother. Also how he defeated Akutagawa in less than fifteen minutes. Though Fuji had treated Akutagawa more kindly than how he treated Mizuki.

/Maybe I was just too sensitive. Fuji really cares about us. I knew it. He is just the same as Tezuka and Echizen, who couldn't express their feelings so freely. He just handles it in a different way, and covers it too well with a friendly façade. So, naturally, I expected so much from him. Even thought I had a feeling that it was not the real him./ Oishi sighed, disappointed. /The truth is Fuji never changed. It was just that he wasn't what I had pictured in my mind. But somehow, I also feel betrayed because it makes me feel like he doesn't trust us at all./

This new discovery somewhat brightened Oishi's clouded mood. He was detemined to know the real Fuji. Maybe this time they could start over and became real friends. He looked up in relief, only to be startled by Eiji's that had somehow appeared right in front of him out of nowhere.

If he wasn't too deep in thought, if it was someone else in his place, he would find the situation was kinda funny. Eiji was kneeling in front of him, hands supporting his head. And he frowned cutely. He would've noticed how adorable Eiji was if he didn't feel like he would pass out from heart attack at any moment.

"Eiji!" Oishi instinctively took a step back, only to lose his balance. He expected to fall unceremoniously but Eiji pulled him back to his feet just in time.

"Moo, that was close, Oishi!" Eiji scolded him humourously. "You acted as if I have an ugly and scary face!" He crossed his arms defiantly.

Oishi internally debated if he should thank his partner for saving him or scold him for startling him, but settled on looking down, face very red, when he heard his team laughter behind. Momoshiro who laughing so hard that the latter was already bent over, hands on his stomach. Beside him, Echizen's playful smirk could be seen under his cap. Kaidoh and Kawamura were on the other side, trying to control their laughter to let him have what was left of his dignity.

But that dignity that soon fell apart like a fragile glass when he saw Inui furiously writing something his evil sidekick of a notebook.

"Wow Momo…." Eiji gasped theatrically. "You actually managed to successfully drag Ochibi here without resorting to kidnapping!"

Ryoma pouted.

Eiji started dancing about. "Yay yay yay! Our cute Ochibi is here!" Eiji beamed happily. "Nanjyaro hoi hoi!"

Ryoma didn't bother to counter his senpai whenever said senpai was that hyperactive. He knew only too well how dangerous it was to even attempt that.

But deep inside, the truth was that he couldn't stop thinking about Fuji-senpai after all the talk he heard lately. Of course he wasn't worried! Why should he be…? It was just, for some weird reason beyond his comprehension, he couldn't sleep last night. So, he gave up and decided to just wait for morning to come so he could go to the street tennis court. He was already on his way to leave when Momo-senpai came to pick him up.

"So everyone is here." Oishi smiled, relieved. He checked his watch and found it was already 8.55 AM.

"Everyone except Tezuka." Inui said calmly.

"Maybe he's not coming...?" Kawamura said with a nervous smile. He still remembered the incident about "Momoshiro's date" before.

Oishi debated with himself if they should wait a little longer for Tezuka or not when he suddenly heard a very familiar deep voice.

"Ohayou, minna."

"Buchou!"

"Tezuka!"

Everyone looked bewilder to when Tezuka appeared, but a warning glare from the Buchou silenced whatever anyone had to say about his unexpected appearance. Inui smiled secretly, pretending to adjust his glasses so no one could see him smile.

So their stoic buchou was human after all. He couldn't beat his own curiosity. It just that Tezuka had his own standard about what deserved his attention and what didn't. Momoshiro's date obviously wasn't something that could get Tezuka's interest. Of course, if it was Echizen's… that would be an entirely different story. That aside, their tensai's mysterious things were another story.

"II data…" Inui muttered cryptically.

---

Fuji Yuuta groaned. Mizuki Hajime was ranting nonstop for almost ten minutes already and it seemed that he was still far from stopping.

"So I couldn't see why you would tire yourself by quickly going home just for dinner and wake up so early to go to school again non stop for two days. Also to spend weekend there! You _know_ that you would get annoyed by your brother and would regret coming home. You're just missing a valuable time for practice and then have a nice birthday party here with your precious senpais. You really hurt my feelings, Yuuta-kun."

"Oh shut up, Mizuki!" Kisarazu Atsushi snapped annoyed. "He wants to celebrate his birthday with his family. There's nothing wrong with that, right? Stop provoking him all the time."

Yuuta looked gratefully to his usually quiet senpai. He really didn't know how to tell Mizuki. He never hated his aniki. Sure he was too protective to the point that it gets annoying sometimes, but… he could never imagine a life without his older siblings. The match between Mizuki and his aniki made him respect his aniki even more.

Yuuta loved his aniki. He had always been so proud of him. And he wanted his aniki to be proud of him too. He tried so hard to be the best so his aniki would feel the same as how he felt for him. But it was so hard. Shuusuke was just… too perfect.

He had a beautiful face, he talked with a smooth- almost melodious- gentle voice, and always did everything gracefully. He was always shining… and because of that, some people would envy him. Then suddenly Yuuta realized that no matter how hard he tried, he would never be like his aniki. And that realization had hurt him so much.

So he started to push his aniki away. He didn't want to see Shuusuke's disappointed face when he realized that his otouto was a failure. He was determined to push his aniki away until he could face Shuusuke with confidence.

And that would only come when he can stand on equal footing with him.

But that day seems so far away. His frustration made his temper grow worse. Yuuta couldn't remember a time when he could have a civil conversation with Shuusuke. He always suspected anything that Shuusuke did or said that he would respond to them heatedly. Yet Shuusuke took it all patiently. Shuusuke still cared for him. He protected him no matter what. Of course, Yuuta knew that Shuusuke played so amazingly against Akutagawa not only because seeing Kawamura fight moved the Tensai. It was for him too.

He had long realized how much he had been hurting his aniki. He just couldn't know how he could say sorry. And Shuusuke would never let him say sorry. He would never let him take the blame. He always acted like nothing was wrong between them. Yet Yuuta could feel that the wall between- the wall that he built- had started cracking.

He still had a passion to pass Shuusuke. He wanted to make Shuusuke proud as he was of him. So it made him uncomfotable hearing Mizuki talk to him like his aniki was the enemy.

"That's not really nice, Kisarazu. I don't understand why you say that. St. Rudolph is a second family for all of us." Mizuki's voice snapped Yuuta out of his thoughts.

"Exactly! A second family. I myself would choose to go home and celebrate my birthday with my family then celebrate it later with my second family!" Kisarazu grumbled..

Look, Mizuki-senpai. I'm really grateful that you've planned to give me a birthday party. But Kisarazu-senpai is right. I really need to go home. It's a tradition in my family to celebrate someone's birthday together. Even my parents would come home from aboard for the occasion. So that's why I would sleep at home from Wednesday when my parents arrive. No offense, okay?"

What Mizuki wanted to say was cut by a shout from a certain red head.

"A tradition?"

They turned to see all the Seigaku regulars behind them. Well everyone except for Fuji.

"Well, well… If it isn't the infamous Seigaku regulars. For what do we owe this honor?" Mizuki rolled his eyes.

"It is a tradition in your family to celebrate birthdays?" Eiji ignored Mizuki and asked Yuuta determinedly.

"Uh, yeah. What's so strange about it?" Yuuta asked bewildered.

"Even Fuji's birthday?" Eiji kept pushing it.

"Of course!" Yuuta exclaimed. "My family loves celebrations. Even our parents never once forgot to come home for the celebration. We celebrate their wedding anniversary, their birthdays, Neesan's birthday, my birthday, Ani…"

Yuuta suddenly stopped. Everyone looked at him expectedly.

"Well?" Eiji couldn't wait anymore.

"Uhm, I… It's just…" Yuuta stammered.

"Okay, let's change the question. Fuji-kun, when is your brother's birthday?"

Yuuta bit his lip when he heard Inui's question.

"Uhm, about the first days of March?"

Everyone looked doubtfully while Eiji narrowed his eyes.

"You don't know when your brother's birthday is? Nyaa, how could you!"

"I… We never celebrated his birthday, okay?" Yuuta yelled frustrated.

"Why?"

"I don't know. I don't remember anyone ever mention Aniki's birthday before. The last time we celebrated his birthday was…"

"Eight years ago, I know. The question is, why? Fuji said it was not a tradition in your family to celebrate birthday while you said the opposite. Only the part about not celebrating his birthday was right!" Eiji said heatedly. He felt it was not fair for Fuji to be left out like that.

"Kikumaru!" Inui said warningly. "Now, Fuji-kun, if you don't remember your brother's birthday, how could you be sure it is at the first days of March?"

The regulars suddenly remembered about the patterns that Inui informed them before. So they looked expectant of what Yuuta would say.

"Uh, I knew it was at March. In fact it was at the first days of March, if I'm not mistaken. I remembered eight years ago, after we celebrated my birthday, Aniki waited eagerly for March to come. Cause there's an old animation movie that would be relay at the TV. Aniki was talking so enthusiastically about that series. About brotherhood, heroism, and all."

"What was the title of the anime?" Inui asked suddenly.

"I think it was Voltes V something."

"I thought so." Inui nodded. "The series aired at March 8th. It still suits the pattern if Fuji's birthday is at the first days of March."

The rest of the Seigaku regulars nodded.

Momoshiro looked curiously at Inui.

"Inui-senpai, how did you remember when was that anime was on air?"

"Because the series was played to replace an educational program, 'Let's Ask Prof. Einstein'. I still couldn't understand how they could replace a good show like that with a mecha series."

"Huh? What kind of program was 'Let's Ask Prof. Einstein'?" Momo paused. "Uh, never mind. I don't really want to know."

"Excuse me. But what pattern did you talk about?" Yuuta asked frustrated.

Inui started to explain from the time when Kikumaru asked Fuji about his birthday and about the 'half-second dream' up to the patterns that he discovered.

"I don't know what a half-second dream is." Yuuta frowned thoughtfully. "Anyway, eight years ago we didn't really celebrate his birthday."

Everyone looked questioningly to the younger Fuji.

"I remembered that Aniki didn't have dinner that day. He already promised his friends to do something. Otousan asked Okaasan about it at dinner. Okaasan said to let him be. After all, he was the birthday boy."

"That's not really nice ne? To escape the dinner that your mother already prepared it thoughtfully." Eiji frowned. He couldn't believe that Fuji would have the heart to disappoint his family.

"So that's why your parents never celebrated Fuji's birthday anymore?" Oishi asked carefully.

"No, of course not. Aniki had to stay with Obaasan in Chiba for more than three years because of his health."

"Fuji was sick? Was it serious?" Eiji frowned worriedly.

"Well, Aniki was born premature. When he was little, he was easily got sick. After his staying at Chiba, his health is got better. He never got sick easily anymore."

"Chiba? So that's when Fuji befriends with Saeki." Inui said.

"Aniki rarely came home. Only to celebrate our big days. But he never came to celebrate his own birthday. Neesan would pack his birthday presents and bring them to Chiba. It seemed that he really enjoyed his stays at Obaasan's place."

"But you said he only stayed there for three years."

"That's right, Inui-san. He went home after he got into an accident. He stayed at home for a couple months then went to US for scholarship. That's why his registration at Seigaku was late."

"Fuji-san, what scholarship did Fuji-senpai get?" Ryoma frowned.

"I don't know. Why? What's so big about it? I don't think it's strange for Aniki to get a scholarship. He is the tensai after all."

"I know that. But usually scholarships are for high school and university students. I've never heard of a scholarship for an elementary student." Ryoma frowned, looking very puzzled.

Momo mused that he had never seen Echizen let himself look so… troubled in front of anyone before. Well, perhaps anyone but Tezuka, but still…

The silence that surrounded them was deathly.

"Ore-sama must say that Ore-sama agrees. What scholarship could a ten-year-old possibly get?"

Everyone startled when the voice of Hyoutei's captain suddenly broke the silence. They turned and saw a lot of familiar faces behind them, namely Atobe Keigo and the rest of the Hyoutei regulars. Yukimura Seiichi from Rikkaidai was also there, accompanied by Sanada Genichirou and Kirihara Akaya.

"How…?"

"We're really sorry, Oishi-san." Ohtori bowed nervously. "We didn't mean to eavesdrop. It's just…"

"Of course we weren't eavesdropping." Mukahi grumbled. "This is a free place for anyone, isn't it? We came to the other courts first. Why didn't they check the whole area before talking about something private? And what's so special about Fuji's birthday? I mean I would think it's nice if my friends want to celebrate my birthday…"

"Gakuto," Oshitari called warningly.

"Well?" Atobe raised his eye brow.

"I don't know, okay? I never asked what scholarship Aniki got. I never thought about it before."

"Ano, is Fuji-kun alright?"

Everyone turned and saw Kisarazu Ryou as the only one from Rokkaku that was there. He was hidden before by Sanada and Kabaji's giant bodies.

"Ryou! You're late." A rare smile could be seen in Atsushi's face.

"Sorry, Atsu. I missed the train." Ryou smiled apologetically.

"Ano, Kisarazu-kun, why do you ask?" Oishi asked worriedly.

"Well, three days ago he called Saeki after practice."

The Seigaku regulars looked at each other, except for Ryoma who still looked lost in thought. They remembered that was when Eiji asked them about Fuji's birthday.

"Saeki sounded so strange. It seems like something happened to Fuji-kun. He cancelled his plan with us and just fled. Aoi decided to follow him because he was worried. Naturally, we all went together. Saeki went to the direction of the beach. He went to a secluded area there. We never knew there was a place like that before. And Fuji-kun was there, just watching the sea."

"We were lucky that the area was so secluded or else they would notice us. It seems that Fuji-kun went there to watch the sea horses."

"Sea horses?" Yuuta asked confused.

"It seems that was a story about the sea horses. The waves were like horses' heads that try to break free from the ocean to reach the sky. So they were called sea horses. And the sea horses were the souls of people that already died with unfinished dreams. They tried to break free from the ocean so they could be born again to fulfill that dream. They tried thousands of times to reach the rock only to fall down again and disappear with the waves' foam."

There was a long silence after that.

"Uhm, well… That sounds… Uhm…" Tachibana couldn't finish his words.

"Depressing?" Ryou offered helpfully. "I thought so. Beside, there's something about Fuji-kun back then that made him look so fragile."

"Baka!" Kirihara shouted heatedly. "Only an idiot would fall for Fuji's deceptively weak appearance!"

"I know that! But he looked that way when we saw him at that place!"

Ryoma blinked curiously at Sanada.

Sanada coughed lightly and whispered so only Ryoma could hear. "Sorry. But that match really taught Kirihara a lesson. From then on, Fuji had gained his respect."

Ryoma tugged his cap. For a moment, Sanada thought that he saw at the corner of the boy's lips quirk… as if he was smiling. But it was gone so fast, so he shrugged it off. His imagination must've playing tricks on him.

"Then, what happened?" Atobe asked, irritated, while he glared at Kirihara for cutting off what Kisarazu was saying.

"Saeki asked Fuji-kun to drink. Something about drinking the moon. That the moon's power will support him. The wind was so loud, we couldn't hear clearly. And then we had to go 'cause Fuji-kun already stood up and started walking away."

"Ore-sama couldn't think why it becomes a problem anyway. You should just ask your parents or sister about Fuji's birthday."

Yuuta would have said something harsh because of the way Atobe was bossing him, but stopped it because of Eiji's excitement.

"Nyaa, that's right! Yumiko-san must know about Fuji's birthday!" Eiji looked at Yuuta pleadingly.

"Uh, okay. I'll ask her."

/Let's just get this over with./ Yuuta sighed while he pushed the speed dial in his mobile to contact his Neesan.

"Uhm, Neesan, it's me. No, it's nothing. I just want to ask about Aniki's birthday. When is… What? But, Neesan… I … No, of course not. I just… Okay, I won't. Yes. Bye, Neesan."

Everyone looked curiously. The conversation went strange for them.

"Well?" Eiji asked.

"She wouldn't tell me." Yuuta said, confused. "She didn't let me explain. She said that I should never ask Aniki about it. Or even mention it. She didn't really say why, but what I do know is I'll be a dead meat if I ignore her words."

There was an awkward silence.

Inui frowned. Their mission seems to have failed this time.

"Well, at least we knew that Fuji's birthday is the first days of March. We still have time to prepare a birthday present for Fuji. And, Yuuta, you must find out about Fuji's birthday before this month ends, you got that?"

"What? Me?" Yuuta looked at Eiji bewildedly. "Didn't you hear what I said? Neesan would kill me if she finds out I'm still asking about Aniki's birthday!"

"Then you just follow Ore-sama's wonderful plan."

Yuuta groaned.

"Ask your parents to let you hold a birthday party. You don't have to tell Fuji about the people that you invited. When he finds out that his teammates were invited, he wouldn't have an excuse to not tell us about his birthday anymore. Your sister wouldn't kill Fuji's team mates, after all they could play innocent."

"My birthday is at February 18th. It's Saturday. So the party would be hold at Sunday. A party just before a school day? I don't think my parents would agree."

"So hold your party on a Saturday. Just have your family gathering earlier." Atobe raised his eyebrow.

"I don't know. It would be too much trouble to hold a party. It's been so long since I've had one." Yuuta said doubtfully.

"The food is on Oreesama. You just have to ask permission from your parents."

"Hey, we are more than able to afford a party." Yuuta retorted indignantly.

"Ore-sama never said your family couldn't afford it. Ore-sama is just being generous. Since your party would be graced by Ore-sama's presence, the food should be edible. Just consider it as Ore-sama's birthday present for you.

"Atobe, I didn't know that you were so eager to know about Fuji's birthday." Tezuka said coolly.

"So you all want to celebrate Fuji's birthday too?" Eiji looked at them with wide eyes.

"Why not?" Yukimura smiled. "He's a wonderful player. It would be great if we could give hold an unforgettable birthday for him."

"Yeah! Besides, it's free food man!" The Kisarazu's twins said together.

"After all Fuji-kun gave us these mobiles on our birthday. They're really helpful considering Atsu moved to St. Rudolph."

"Huh, but I thought Fuji first met you together with us back then when we went to Chiba." Oishi looked confused.

"We did."

"Then how come he gave birthday presents to someone he didn't know?"

"Well, it was really hard for us when Atsu decided to go to St. Rudolph. We've always been together. Since our birthdays were coming, Saeki decided to give us mobiles so we could contact each other everytime. He found these mobiles on sale but his money was not enough. So Fuji-kun offered to pay for the amount left and told us that the presents were from both of them."

Ryou laughed when he saw the still unbelieving faces of the others.

"It's just the way Saeki is. He is spontaneous and ignorant. He doesn't care about formality and just does what he wants. But Fuji was always so supportive of him. So I think I know why they are close friends."

"Ore-sama doesn't really care about all that. Ore-sama is just curious and wants to know what's so special about it. "

"Uhm, Fuji-kun, could you tell us what Fuji-san's favorites are? So we know what should we get as his birthday presents." Ohtori asked.

Eiji sighed when he saw the blank expression in Yuuta's face.

"Okay, I list them from the cheap ones to the expensive ones. Cactis, wasabi sushi, music, books, camera, and laptop. He loves classic and new age music. One of his favourite singers has a name like a dictionary. His songs are really famous. One of them is some Phantom of something." Eiji took a deep breath.

"You mean Andrew Lloyd Webber which one of his masterpiece is Phantom of The Opera." Atobe stated bemusedly. "But he isn't a singer, Kikumaru. He is a great composer."

"Whatever." Eiji glared. "And the other singer is a woman which song was became a sountrack of Lord Of The Ring. The song really made me think about the era of gods and goddess, you know."

That's one was a little difficult and made everyone thought really hard.

"Could it be Enya? I remembered Saeki bought the soundtrack cd because he said that her song was there so he bought if for a friend."

"Ah, you're right. I remembered there're a lot of her cd in Aniki's room."

"And then there's Sarah something's cd that he collects too. With some songs that like operas that made me felt asleep when I heard them. But some of her songs were nice."

"Sarah Brightman." Tezuka said.

"About the book, you could try to give him completes dictionaries of any languages to the difficult books. I read the titles were difficult words like psychology, quantum something and much more. And Spanish and Russian dictionaries. He said that he wanted to collect dictionaries of all languages in the world. And since he loves photography, anything relates to photography would be right for him. A camera.perhaps. I saw him looked at camera catalogue before. And laptop catalogue too."

"Wow, Eiji-senpai, you're really Fuji-senpai's best friend." Momoshiro exclaim with respect.

"Yeah, and I'm a bad otouto." Yuuta said sourly.

"Nobody said that, Yuuta-kun." Mizuki said soothingly, patting his shoulder.

/But it was the truth./ Well, at least he determined to make it up by giving his aniki the best birthday he ever had. Now he was more eagerly to do Atobe's plan.

---

Tsuzuku…

Sorry, can't help it. I love classic music, Enya, Sarah Brightman, and Andrew Llord Webber's songs. Though I don't really like all the opera songs, I think Andrea Bocelli, Sarah, and Josh Groban are really good.

About Yuuta didn't remember his aniki birthday, I don't know about you. But my family rarely celebrate it anymore. Just a congratulation and dinner together. My brothers need their mobile to make a reminder about our family's birthday. Of course I don't know need it. A different between man and woman?

Otouto : little brother

Aniki : big brother

Neesan : big sister

Ohayou : good morning

Otousan : father

Okaasan : mother

Obaasan : grandmother


	4. The Man Who Reaches Victory With His Own

Disclamer : Still not own Tennis No Ohjisama. Hibino brothers belong to Heiuchi Natsuko.

Words in /….: someone's thoughts

Words in _Italic_ : flashback

Dedicated for Ishka-chan. Thank you to support me and always be patient to my poor English.

A Half-Second Dream

Chapter 4 : The Man Who Reaches Victory With His Own Hands

Days passed. For the non regular members, the days passed peacefully. But for the Regulars, there was a thick tension around them. There was a silent agreement between them to not say anything about Fuji's birthday or about what they found out about him. And Fuji did the same.

Deep inside everyone knew the glass that was already broken could never be repaired again. Eiji was questioning himself over and over if he was wrong. That maybe he should leave it and not push Fuji like that. So they could keep the friendship between them.

/No./ Eiji said determinedly. /I didn't do anything wrong! We'll be graduating in less than two months! And I just found out that the friendship that I have with him was just a façade. If I didn't do anything, this relationship would end after we graduate. Fuji's friendship is so precious to me. I can't afford to lose it/

Eiji was worried. Graduation was near. All the third grades have already given a form for them to fill what high school that they wanted to go to. The forms would guide the school's counselor to help them to reach their goals or suggest other schools that were more suitable for them.

But Fuji didn't collect his form. Eiji knew it. He kept nagging his smiling friend about what school did he choose. Well, the truth was he kept nagging all his friends about their chosen schools. He was overjoyed that all of Seigaku third grades decided to go to Seigaku High School. Of course Tezuka didn't say anything to him. Eiji found out about it from Oishi. He knew his gentle partner would never say no to him.

Fuji just smiled his usual smile when Eiji asked him about it. He even frowned playfully like he was still thinking about it seriously. Eiji knew that his best friend already had lots of scholarship offers from many school. Even famous schools like Rikkadai High School and Hyoutei High School. But he kept hoping that Fuji would choose Seigaku for the sake of their friendship.

Even at the last moment of collecting the form, Fuji's form still blank. Their teachers asked him about it. He said he still couldn't decide his mind. And then one time that he said he lost the form so the teacher gave a new one for him. Eiji knew he would get scolded if he was in Fuji's shoes. For being late in collecting the form and for losing it.

But Fuji got away from it. The teachers only asked him to make up his mind fast so he could concentrate on what he chooses. Eiji couldn't understand why it was so hard for Fuji to choose. Didn't their friendship mean something to him? Didn't he want to play tennis with them again? But if Fuji thought less of their friendship, why didn't he choose any scholarships that he preferred most?

These past days made Eiji rethinking again about his friendship with Fuji. It hurt him a lot to realize that he didn't know anything about Fuji. The friendship that they had was only a façade. Time was running out, and he knew he needed to do something. And he needed to do it fast. He had a feeling that Fuji would leave them if they didn't do anything to break the façade.

Deep inside he was glad that he brought the matter to the surface. There were a lot he had found lately. And everyone seemed to place this matter as their top priority. Eiji knew it wouldn't be good for him to think too seriously about matter like this. He was easily distracted and not so good at concentrating on one matter. Others helped him to focus. And surprisingly they gave good suggestions too. It was weird to know that other schools were interested and wanted to help to. All he had to do now was to wait.

---

It wasn't easy to capture Echizen Ryoma's interest. Other than tennis, the only thing that seemed to occupy young genius' mind was Karupin. But after he joined Seigaku's tennis team, he found that there was one more thing added on that list.

It was the name Fuji Syuusuke.

Ryoma couldn't decide what it was that made his thoughts often wander to the ever-smiling boy. Fuji wasn't too noisy. He never showed anything that made him special. He wasn't the loud but friendly type like Momo-senpai. And he was definitely not a hyperactive clown like Kikumaru-senpai. And he wasn't a worrywart that always made a fuss like Oishi-senpai.

He never put a grumpy face that scared everyone off like Kaidoh-senpai. Nor did he make everyone uneasy with his genius like Inui-senpai, what with his _evil_ notebook. Well, Inui-senpai wasn't technically a genius. But he was definitely smart. Otherwise, how could he play such a complicated style as Data Tennis? And- Ryoma cringed- keep inventing poisons he lovingly called juices? His brain just wouldn't stop coming up with those eerie concoctions.

And Fuji-senpai was not like Tezuka-Buchou either. Ryoma had always thought that Tezuka-Buchou was a lot like himself. Maybe because of the way they both treasured peace, as peaceful as they could get being part of Seigaku's No Normal Person Allowed Tennis Club. But Ryoma inwardly mused that he was at least more expressive than Buchou. But then again… Buchou's usual stoic face was what made his gentle smiles precious and rare.

Unlike Buchou, Ryoma had no qualms about yelling (if not completely ignoring) anyone who annoyed him. He mocked idiot grown ups that underestimated him, and would go as far as teasing his own senpais merciless. Well, except for Buchou, of course. It was hard even for Ryoma to make even the tiniest crack in that stoic poker face that his Buchou so loved to wear.

/Probably not to ruin his reputation./ Ryoma snorted.

Back to Fuji-senpai. Fuji-senpai was a quiet person. But he wasn't anything near the shy Kawamura-senpai. He always put a smile on his face that gave an impression of an angel. An angel with black wings. The quote there's a blade between a smile was something that could describe Fuji-senpai better.

The tensai just seemed to give off this eerie aura. He could scare people to the point that they wished they were never born, should they ever cross his path. It wasn't that Fuji-senpai was cruel and cold-blooded. Ryoma knew that, perhaps just as much as Yuuta did. He was just too possessive when it came to what (and who) were important to him.

He knew Fuji-senpai for almost a year now. Fuji-senpai was so possessive about his family, especially his hot-blooded younger brother. Ever since he met Fuji Yuuta, Echizen felt somewhat relieved that he was an only child. That was, until the incident with Kirihara. That was when he found out that he was on the list of Fuji-senpai's most important people.

/It's not just me. Maybe all of the regulars are./ Ryoma mused with a light smile.

Speaking of smiles… Most people found Fuji-senpai's smile unnerving. This was probably one of the reasons why Ryoma was more at ease with Buchou than the tensai. At least Buchou was… more predictable. He could more or less tell how Buchou would react about this and that. But then, there was still the fact that he spent relatively more time with Buchou than with Fuji-senpai so…

But Fuji-senpai was different. That was one thing for sure.

Yes… He may be unpredictable. But he was still different. And that was what made him special.

Fuji-senpai always did things the opposite from what was expected. That scared everyone because they couldn't predict his actions. His strange taste, as well as his twisted jokes ranked him as number one in The Most Scary Regulars A Sane Person Should Never Mess With poll.

Yet people were still drawn to him. It wasn't that he tried so hard to draw them near. He had the aura that made people unable to turn their attention from him. He didn't joke nonsensically nor chatter non-stop and cheerfully like Kikumaru-senpai did, nor did he treat people so friendly like Momo-senpai. He just smiled casually. Just that. Just a smile. And that drew people to him like a moth to a fire.

Ryoma knew he was curious to find out anything he can about Fuji-senpai. That was the tendency people when people got to know Fuji Shuusuke. They would develop this curiosity and would want to know him better. Ryoma couldn't forget the plushie, pillow and key holder designed like Karupin- all hand-made by Fuji-senpai- that said senpai gave on his birthday, and was soon followed by a pair of tennis shoes the following day as a Christmas present.

One thing that he didn't like about being born on December 24th was that people always had a tendency to overlook his birthday, as they were all very excited about Christmas. And Fuji-senpai, who worked so hard on a birthday present, made him feel that his birthday wasn't so insignificant after all.

But what surprised him more than the handmade presents was the meaning attached to it. Somehow, Fuji-senpai saw right through him, even though he never said anything to anyone and just shrugged off his birthday like it didn't matter.

But Fuji-senpai didn't let it go. He was determined to make what Ryoma thought was insignificant something so special. Of course, what better way than to nearly give the poor kid a heart attack by conspiring with the regulars (yes, even Buchou) to throw a surprise party for him.

Fuji-senpai, albeit sweet, was just too… weird.

---

Tezuka looked calmly at Inui who cornered him at their club. He didn't ask but just waited for the data player to talk. And he didn't wait for long.

"Yukimura had contacted me. He suggested that we should organize Fuji's birthday presents. That's why Fuji wouldn't get the same presents from more than one person. I think it is a good idea. I had list Fuji's suggestion birthday presents from Kikumaru. I have Oshitari to be the person in charge for Hyotei. Fuji-kun would be the person in charge for St. Rudolph."

"Good work.'' Tezuka nodded.

Inui seems a little hesitated to say what he wanted to say next.

"Fuji-kun asked me to tell you something. After the National, the tennis acitivities has reduced. Most of the third grades already resign to concentrate to their exams. Only we - the regulars – that still active. Fuji-kun asked me if you could lessen the practice especially in the week of his birthday."

"Since his parents would come at February 15th, he wanted to make them happy to have the whole family present. So his parents would be happy and have a bigger chance to let him has the party. In the past two years, Fuji mostly skipped the dinner because of practice. He would come home late. At that time he would be too tired that he would hang out with his family only for awhile before he went to his room to finish his school homework and got ready to sleep. Then he would went to school earlier for morning practice. Practically Fuji would only had lessen time with his parents. Only at Fuji-kun birthday that he would came home on time for the dinner."

There's an awkward silence. Tezuka twitched slightly.

"Did you tell him?" Tezuka asked softly.

Inui paused for a moment.

"I didn't. But my respond was slower 25.95 percentage than it should. That was what made Fuji-kun realized there wasn't any extra trainings at that time."

"It seems that Fuji's relationship with his parents is not in a good term." Tezuka stated thoughtfully.

Outside of the club room, the young pillar went silently. He had long forgotten what he had planned to do when he went to the club room.

---

They joked as nothing ever happen between them. They were on their way to Kawamura's Sushi shop. Kawamura had offered them a treat for a celebration after Tezuka announced Momoshiro as the new Buchou and Kaidoh as Fukubuchou. It was a wild gambling since everyone knew that both second grades always acted like cat and dog since the moment they met. And some of them were even expecting that Ryoma would become the next captain.

But Tezuka had made up his mind. Ryoma would continue to be Seigaku's pillar, and Tezuka didn't want to burden the young prodigy with a responsibility more than he already had. That way, Ryoma could play freely and surpass his limits.

Ryoma didn't seem to mind either. Somehow, the regulars got the feeling that Ryoma understood. That was how things were whenever one looked at Tezuka and Echizen together. They gave off this feeling that their communication often went beyond words.

Now everyone couldn't wait to see how those two rivals will settle their differences and guide the new batch of Seigaku's tennis team towards the next year's Nationals.

When Kawamura said his offer, his friends took it almost instantly. Nobody wanted to waste the chance to eat all you can get at Kawamura's Sushi. Of course he knew the danger to offer a treat to his friends with bottomless stomachs. But lately the tension among regulars was unbearable for him. He hoped that this would be an opportunity to melt the tension and unity them again.

"Oh, Eiji, you're really need to stop." Oishi desperately tried to calm down his hyperactive partner. "You could crash with someone."

Eiji had been bouncing happily since Kawamura told the offer. He couldn't wait to get to Kawamura's Sushi quickly. He talked merrily to Fuji and Oishi who walked beside him. And he even turned himself to face Ryoma who walked behind him to ask him to be hurry, still walking while he did it. Only that he steps backward and not forward because of his position.

Oishi's warning had just been said when Eiji crashed with someone and fell. The little boy that Eiji bumped into had fell, making one of his knees bleed a little. The little boy cried.

"Unyaa! Gomenegomenegomene…." Eiji said it non stop as he helped the little boy to stand.

Oishi quickly rushed to help them.

"Oh dear. We should clean the wound or it could get infected." Oishi said worriedly. "Let's come to that park and clean it in the fountain."

"My ball," the little boy refused to go, still crying.

Kawamura handed his a soccer ball.

"Is this your ball?"

The little boy took the ball protectively. Looking at the brown hair little boy that held his ball made a déjà vu feeling flew back to Fuji. He kept silence as he studied the little boy as Oishi cleaned his wound. Ryoma kneeled beside the vice captain and offered his handkerchief to tie on the kid's knee as a makeshift bandage.

"Oishi, he won't stop crying." Eiji said devasted. His tears were threatening to fall.

"There's a 48.65 percentage that he was crying because of Kikumaru's crashed on him. The other was because of something else. After all he was already crying when he collapsed with Kikumaru." Inui said calmly.

"What? You already saw him that time and didn't warn me?" Eiji yelled furiously. "I thought I had really really hurted him!"

"What's wrong? What makes you so sad? You can tell us." Oishi said soothingly.

That made the little boy cried harder. Everyone was frustrated for they weren't used to deal with little children, especially crying little children. Fuji kneeled right beside Ryoma and wiped the kid's tears with his handkerchief. The little boy looked cautiously but relaxed after he saw Fuji's gentle smile.

"What's your name?"

"Katsuhiko."

---

"_We will go the National! And win! There's no losing in my dictionary!" the dark brown hair boy said determinedly._

"_Oh yeah, sure. The first place on the National was already booked for you." Koji said teasingly._

"_What? Don't you sure about your own ability?"_

"_Of course I'm sure. But soccer is a team work game. We chose this new school which didn't have the soccer club. It was us who asked permission from the head master to create the soccer club. We don't have a couch and the three of us are the only capable player at the club. We should practice and teach them at the same time. And now you said we would go to the National!"_

"_So your point is?"_

"_Katsu, the summer championship is about three month from now! Do you really expect to win that championship with these unskilled players? You should take this summer championship as a practice to prepare them for the winter championship."_

"_We will win the summer championship and the winter championship!" Katsu said stubbornly._

"_Argh! Shuu, you should talk some sense to him!"_

"_Katsu said we will win the championships. So we will win the championship." Shuu said sweetly._

"_That's my man!" Katsu slapped Shuu's back happily._

"_You both are nuts!" Koji grumbled._

"_Do you know something? My name is a strong and powerful name. Katsu means victory, Hiko means man. So Katsuhiko means the man who reaches victory with his own hands. You see, Koji, we will win the championships!"_

"_Because you are the man who reaches victory with his own hands?" Koji said amused._

"_Yep! You know what? You should always aim for the moon. Even when you couldn't reach it, at least you would reach the stars."_

"_Where did that enthusiasm go just now?"_

"_No, silly. I still think we could win. I just want you to remember always to aim higher. Not barricade yourself with 'I can't'! You don't know what you'll miss because of that!"_

_Katsu took his hands on Shuu and Koji's shoulder._

"_One day, Shuu, Koji, we would be the one who lead Japan to win the world championship!"_

_The other two nodded solemnly._

---

"…ji… Fuji!"

Fuji was startled. He looked at his friends who looked at his worriedly. He forced his smile.

"Daijoubu ka?"

"Daijoubu, Eiji. Just thinking about Katsuhiko's name."

"My name? What is it about my name?" Katsuhiko asked confusedly.

"It's a really good name." Fuji smiled.

"I don't want to have a good name." Katsuhiko frowned. "I just want to be healthy and big and strong like my brothers."

"What's wrong, Katsu-chan? Are you sick?" Eiji asked with concern.

"I'm fine now. It just that when my mom gave birth of me and Yoshi-nichan, I was born very weak. Tatsu-nichan said they thought I wouldn't make it. He said it was a miracle that I made it. They were overjoyed because of it. But I was still weak and so I couldn't grow up as tall other kids that my age. Even though we are alike, Yoshi-nichan is taller than me."

"He even plays soccer better than me, better than any kids that our ages. He is already choosed as the regular even though he is still in fourth grade. It's not fair! He was born 5 minutes earlier than I was. Why could he be better in everything than I am? Tatsu-nichan and Masa-nichan also good soccer players. Tatsu-nichan already get scout by famous soccer team in Germany. He would be the first Japanesse soccer player that goes international! Why is it only me that couldn't be a good player?"

The regulars except Fuji looked at each other. The little boy story somewhat reminded them to Fuji's brothers' story.

"My older brothers are good soccer player. I couldn't defeat them. So I try so hard to be a goal keeper. Because I want to be the one who stop their shoot. But everyone doubts me. They said I'm too small so I should try to be forward or middle forward instead. I refused. At the practice game with other school, I couldn't stop the ball. I tried to see where the ball headed but I was too late. I know they talked behind my back that I'm not suit in GK position. That they were doubted me has related with my brothers. They weren't being fair! That boy is a six grade! It's understandable if I couldn't stop his ball!"

"Maybe you should listen to them. I don't think I have seen a keeper who has a small body. Hey, maybe you could start to play tennis. It's really fun you now. And size is not important. Look at Ochibi! Even though he is small, he could beat any opponent. Even the opponent was twice the size of him, nyaa!" Eiji exclaimed.

Katsu bit his tremble lips.

/Oh no. It seems that he would burst in tears again./ Oishi thought panicked.

Fuji took his hands on Katsu's shoulder.

"It's okay to cry you know. Just let your sadness flow out with your tears. Then after the tears stop, you should move on. You should try again harder and harder till you reach your goal."

"Katsu-chan, if you really want to be a GK there's one thing you should remember. You would fail to catch the ball if you move to catch it once your opponent had kicked it. As you grow older, your opponent would also grow older. His shoot would be much stronger and much quicker."

"Then what should I do?" Katsuhiko asked frustrated.

"You should predict to where your opponent would direct his shoot. Look at the direction his eyes would glance. It would help you to know where he wants to direct his shoot. But as you grow older, you would find that your opponents become better. They would use their eyes to deceive you. They would glance to other direction to fool you."

"So to read direction from their eyes would just be your first lesson. The second and crucial lesson is to know the direction from his body movement. Even though eyes could be deceiver, his leg movement and also his shoulder movement would let you know the true direction is. You just have to learn to read the body language of your opponent."

Katsu looked at Fuji in awe while the regulars looked at each other. It was beyond them that Fuji was knew soccer that well.

"And I think it wouldn't hurt you to play at FW, MF and DF for awhile. So you would know the way they think when they face some situation. That would help you become a good GK. Cause you know how your opponent thinks. The goal area would be your sanctuary that no one could break in."

"Oniichan, do you really believe that I could be a GK?" Katsu asked with hopeful eyes.

"Of course you can. There's nothing possible if you really believe in yourself and wouldn't give up easily. After all you have a good name. A powerful name."

"My name? You said it before. What is it about my name?" Katsu asked curiously.

Fuji kneeled in front of him and flipped Katsu right hand with his left hand. He started to write Katsu's kanji name in Katsu's palm using his finger.

"Ka-tsu means victory." Then he wrote the other word. "Hiko means man. So Katsuhiko means the man who reaches victory with his own hands. You said that you were born very weak ne? I see that your parents really care about you. That's why they gave you the stronger name. Your name is fill with they wish, they prayer. They prayed that you wouldn't give up. That you would hold on and alive. And you did. Otherwise you wouldn't stand in front of me ne? You're truly a fighter, Katsu-chan, and you're definitely not weak."

Katsu looked at Fuji solemnly. Tears threatening to fall.

"What is Yoshihiko mean?" He finally asked softly after a long silence.

Fuji started to write another word at Katsu's palm.

"Yo-shi means good. Yoshihiko means a good man."

"So I'm the one who has a stronger name." Katsu whispered.

"It seems that your brothers are really good in soccer ne? Ask them about Latin America soccer. I think the style really suits you. It would help you to become a good GK."

"There is style in soccer?" Katsu asked interested.

"There're Europe style, Latin America style, and of course Japan style that almost everyone here uses it."

"What's the difference?"

"Well, usually when you receive a pass with your chest, in Japan's style you would let it fall to the ground, let it rolls forward a little before you kick it. There is 4 steps till the ball was kicked. Europe style cuts it to 3 steps. You took the ball with your chest, let it fall to the ground, and you kick it. Latin America style is much shorter. You took the ball with your chest and kick it before the ball even touch the ground."

"It's quicker!" Katsu said, fascinated.

"Yes. Latin America style has a quicker rhytme and even heated matchs. If you could learn it, it would help you a lot to become a GK."

"Even though that I'm short?"

"You would find a way to cover your weakness and change it as your advantage with this style."

"So I would be the great GK in Japan?"

"No." Fuji smiled when he saw a disappointed look at Katsu's face. "You'll become the great GK who lead Japan to win the world championship."

"Hontou ni?" Katsu asked brightened.

"As long as you never ever give up. After all you are Katsuhiko ne?"

"The man who reaches victory with his own hands?"

"Hai."

Suddenly Katsu leaped and hugged Fuji tightly.

"Arigatou, Oniichan! I would never ever give up. I promise!"

Katsu bowed his head then started to run enthusiasm. All the sad feeling he felt had disappeared. Fuji smiled softly.

"You know a lot about soccer." Tezuka stated it rather than asked.

"Only enough to let me enjoy the World Cup." Fuji said calmly, pretending like it wasn't a big deal.

"Mou, I still think it would be easier if he choose tennis instead." Eiji pouted.

"Eiji, there's something in soccer that only soccer players would understand about it's passion. And there's something in tennis that only us the tennis players would understand about it's passion."

Ryoma lowered his cap to hide his smile- a smile only Tezuka and Fuji who were standing close to him didn't miss. Tezuka nodded with a rare, gentle smile of his own.

The others too could see Fuji's reason. Of course. What truly mattered was what they really loved, not what others told them do.

"Do you think it's wise to promise him something big like that? He would be devasted if he couldn't make it." Oishi was worried.

"I didn't promise him an empty thing. I said he would reach his dream if he try harder and never give up."

"If he already tries harder and yet he fails? You must admit that it would be hard for him if he doesn't have the skill." Oishi argued.

"Did you see the way he react when he clashed with Eiji? He could get hurt much worse if his reflexes aren't fast enough. That's how he lessens the damage of their clash."

"Oniichan!"

They turned to the shout direction. Katsu had used his hands as a megaphone from afar.

"Oniichan! What's your name?"

"Fuji! His name is Fuji Shuusuke!" Eiji mimicked what Katsu did and yelled at the top of his lung. The regulars flinched because of how loud his voice was.

"My name is Hibino Katsuhiko. Watch out for me, Fuji-niichan! I'll lead Japan to win the world championhip!"

They watched him ran till he was just a small dot afar.

"Well, he'll definitely do it." Fuji smiled gently.

"Because he is Katsuhiko?" Ryoma asked softly.

"Because he is Katsuhiko." Fuji said solemnly.

"Hmmm… I don't know about the name, but like Fuji-senpai said, he'll make it if he tries hard enough." Ryoma said to no one in particular. "His brother reminds me of my dad."

Tezuka inwardly agreed.

/Sometimes, when people pull you down, you just become more stubborn. When people call you weak, you don't settle for anything less than proving them wrong. And that never giving up attitude is your best point./

It flashed for but a fleeting moment, but Fuji didn't miss the pained look on Ryoma's eyes. His hand moved instinctively and landed on Ryoma's shoulder. "But look at where you are now."

Ryoma tugged his cap down, shifting uncomfortably.

---

"Oreesama doesn't care about the cost! Oreesama wants the newest innovation laptop! Price is not a matter. And make sure it has already fills with the last upgrade system and has photography program in it, you got that?"

"I think a laptop would be too much for a birthday present. Especially for someone that not even your closest friend."

Atobe jumped. He placed the phone back while glared at Hyoutei no tensai.

"Don't you know how to knock?" Atobe snapped.

"Well, don't think that we would pay the same amount for the laptop." Oshitari said casually.

"Who said that the laptop would be the present from us all?"

Oshitari lifted his eye brow.

"You're being generous. How touching. Then our presents would follow the list. I'll let the others know that laptop already taken from the list." Oshitari said mockingly.

"What are the other choose?"

"Inui-kun had given me the list of the books and cds that Fuji-kun already have. Interesting subjects, I said. The books Fuji-kun has I mean. Most Hyoutei members chose books. I told them the new scientific books that newly released also told them where they could get dictionaries with various languages. Fuji-kun would be very happy if Kikumaru-kun was right about his favorite things. I'll send the book lists to other schools to make sure they wouldn't buy the same ones. And I found a rare cactus that I think would delight him."

Long after Oshitari left the room, his sarcasm was still playing inside Atobe's head. Yes, he admitted that a laptop would seem too much for someone that he couldn't even said a friend. But he couldn't think of anything else. He had wanted to give the smiling tensai the greatest present he would ever have.

He didn't know if Fuji still remembers him. If the boy still remember their first meeting. The match that they had about 5 years ago. Atobe Keigo was used with people's attention that focused on him. He was a talented player that had shined since he was young. He came from a rich family. His father's company is one of the biggest companies that mean a lot to Japan's economic.

When he attended a junior tournament for individual 5 years ago, he had beated his opponents merciless with his insight. People around him had worshipped him. Then he had to against Fuji. He still remembered the thought that he had when he first saw him.

Fuji Shuusuke was a small little boy that made him thought he was years younger from him. He seems so fragile that he could break easily. Not to mention the boy had an effeminate look that made him thought he was just a little girl back then.

Atobe knew he had underestimated him. Who wouldn't when you find out that your opponent was a fragile petite boy who only learns tennis for about 6 months when the competition was held? Especially when you had learn tennis since you were 6 years old. It was a great shock for him that Fuji had beated him 6 – 0 in a flash. He didn't even have a chance to get a point. He felt humiliated. Fuji had beated him badly. Atobe Keigo never once who accepted defeat openly. He was furious.

Even so Atobe admitted Fuji's strength. He had stated his respect for the petite boy. He even had invited him to join Hyoutei when it was his time to enter Junior High. That's when he found out that they were both nine years.

Yet Atobe couldn't forget the humiliation. He had determined to make it even when they met again. He had trained harder with famous tennis players as his personal coaches. He couldn't wait till the next tournament to pay back the favour. Yet at the next tournament he couldn't find Fuji. And at the next tournament.

Fuji seemed to have just vanished. But Atobe couldn't forget the boy. He still needed to pay back the favour. Every once and two he would think of the little tensai, about what did he do right now.

Then they met again their second times in Junior High. Atobe knew it was him from the moment he laid his eyes on Fuji. The same beautiful face, the same tender smile. Atobe felt offend that Fuji had refused his offer back then and instead joined Seigaku.

It was at that time that he learnt about the other person beside Fuji. Tezuka Kunimitsu. People had talked about him since last year as he was the only first grade that became Seigaku's regulars. Atobe couldn't see what was so special about it. He was too became the regular in his first grade. Along with Yukimura, Sanada and Yanagi, the fifth of them was published as the new rising stars.

It was a surprise to see Fuji again. And to see him again with the Seigaku regulars led by Tezuka no less. That triggered something in Atobe's memory. Back then at their first match, Fuji was accompanied by two boys. He couldn't remember the boys' face. The friendly match with Rokkaku made him finally recognized that the white hair boy was Saeki Kojirou because of the resemblances.

He couldn't remember the other boy. Only that the boy had a dark brown hair. He thought he found the answer from the way Fuji looked at Tezuka, from the gentle smile that was directed to the stoic boy. He knew right then that Fuji was worshipped Tezuka. Then he found out that Tezuka had started to learn tennis when he was eight years old, the same time when Fuji started to learn.

And Atobe was jealous. Fuji didn't even show a sign that he had recognized him. Atobe was furious. Fuji was the only one who had beaten him so badly. He had trained so hard just for a rematch with the tensai. He wanted Fuji to acknowledge him. He was longing for Fuji to look at him as someone who was equal. To have the tensai's respect. Somehow along the line Fuji Shuusuke had became someone that he had respected.

His furious was directed to Tezuka. He wanted so hard to win from the stoic boy. He wanted to humiliate Tezuka as the way Fuji had humiliated him before. Then perhaps Fuji would look at him. Fuji would notice his existence. The match that they had ended not the way he wanted it to be.

When Tezuka fell down in pain, Fuji was running to him with the other regulars. But Tezuka commanded them to back to their sit. Atobe couldn't forget the way Fuji looked at him. If the look could killed… He felt like an idiot. He had done so far and the result was opposite from what he expected.

Tezuka's persistence to continue the game made him felt more unconfident with himself. He lost his spirit to fight back and almost decided to surrender. But Tezuka's determination snapped his common sense. He couldn't give up. Fuji would only think less of him if he did. He should keep fighting to honor Tezuka's spirit. Yet he didn't feel happy when he had won.

Tezuka had congratulated him with all his heart. He felt more like a loser. He asked him for a rematch when Tezuka's shoulder was fully recovers. He thought it was the only way to ease the guilty feeling that he felt. He was relief when Tezuka agreed.

Tezuka's call to ask him to help Seigaku's training was a chance that he never dreams to be given to him. He agreed with it and pretending it was for the sake of a rematch with Tezuka later. So he dragged all Hyoutei's regulars with him.

Fuji was ignored him. He acted like Atobe wasn't there. And that's hurt so much. All he wanted was for Fuji to acknowledge him as his rival and yet the boy treated him like he wasn't even there. But his match with Echizen led to a better result. Fuji had nodded his silent thanks to him. He felt like he was the lucky person in the world.

But he still couldn't ignore the fact that Fuji thanked him for Echizen's sake. Why…?

He was surprised to find out at the street tennis court that Fuji Shuusuke was truly a mystery. He knew that he became more intrigue to find out more about Fuji as someone who had gained his respect. He found out that he was more than willing to do anything to make the tensai felt happy. He just didn't know how to do it without make his friends misunderstood his reason.

---

Sanada Genichirou met Fuji at the junior tournament 5 years ago. He was one of the favorite players at the tournament. The other was Atobe Keigo. Although Atobe had learned tennis a year longer than he was, Sanada had a confident with his ability.

Back then, he played tennis just for an exercise. He was more interested in martial art, especially kendo. Tennis was one of the sports he did in order to practice his martial art. He wanted to know how far he could used his martial art in normal activities.

Sanada had a confident in his martial art that he wouldn't lose to Atobe. Even though the latter had longer experience in tennis than he was. Then the unpredictable thing happen. Atobe was losed to an amateur. And he lost so badly to the other boy.

It had surpised him to find out that Atobe's opponent was a petite little boy. The strong expression that he got was his opponent's appearance could be mistaken as girl. But experiences in martial art made him cautious to not judging Fuji from his appearances.

He found out about how talent Fuji was. Fuji showed him skills that could match a pro. He moved so fast in grace. It seems that Fuji was riding the wind. Fuji beated him with a technique that was adopted by Sanada to create his famous shoot, Fuurinkazan. It was Fuji who made him changed his opinion about tennis. Tennis wasn't a tool anymore for his martial art.

The game ended in 6 – 4. Yet Sanada was not satisfied. He knew his ability was almost equal to Atobe. Yet his score was much better than Atobe. He got the feeling that Fuji didn't show all his power at that much. Sanada was offended. He was determined to show Fuji the progress he had in the next tournament. He would make Fuji regretted to ever underestimate him.

Yet he couldn't find Fuji in the next tournament. And the tournament later. Sanada wasn't really good in remember someone or something. Although he wasn't as bad as Echizen. Sanada admitted that he and the boy were both the same. They were hard to get impressed. Yet when someone or something got their interest, they would focus on that someone or something.

But it didn't mean that he remembered Fuji's name. Before the mactch, he didn't really care about his opponent's name. After the defeat, he was too determine to train himself to go further so he forgot to ask his opponent's name. He thought he would find out about his opponent's name. But the boy had disappeared.

At his last year at Elementary School, he heard the names of Yukimura Seiichi and Tezuka Kunimitsu as the new promising tennis players. Lately, Atobe and him had been the stronger single players for players under twelfth. So it was naturally understandable that the reporters really had been so enthusiasm about these new two players.

Sanada didn't have a chance to have a match against those two. His opponent was Atobe. The match ended as tie but it had left some damage to the players. They both were too exhausted that they couldn't continue and must called forfeit. So nor him or Atobe could attend the match against the winner from the other block. He had heard later that Tezuka won the championship because Yukimura was forfeited.

He was taken off guard when he met Yukimura Seiichi that attended the same school as him in Junior High. Yukimura effeminate appearance had mislead him as the opponent that he had 3 years ago. Plus his bad memory made him unsure if the petite boy he met before was Yukimura. He thought the name was familiar though.

He had confronted the boy only to find out that he was wrong. There was only one thing that was right, Yukimura was a strong opponent. Just like the petite boy that he met before. Sanada also found out that the reason for Yukimura to forfeit at the tournament against Tezuka was because of his health.

Yukimura had praised his opponent high. He said that Tezuka was a very cautious boy. It was a rare thing to find in a boy at his age. Yukimura had jokingly said that Sanada had the same maturity with Tezuka in the way he acted that sometimes made people thinks they were older than they age. It seems that Tezuka was very hard to himself. He was started to learn tennis at his eight years and he had pushed him hard to be the best. He didn't join any tournament before he felt his play already reached his standart. That's why people only heard about Tezuka's name just a year before.

Sanada knew he had found the mysterious boy at the match against Seigaku. It was then that Sanada realized he why Yukimura's name sound familiar to him. Because his bad memory had readjust the word Fuji to Yuki in Yukimura. Fuji had shown a great skill when he fought against Kirihara. There was a strong determined based on his furious when he fought Kirihara. He knew it was because Kirihara had hurted Echizen before.

It shocked him and everyone there when Fuji's disability to see was reveal after his won. Fuji was never failed to fascinate him. Yet he felt that something was not right. That Fuji's improvement should be much better than what he had showed there. He admitted that he was a little disappointed about that fact. Maybe Fuji had used all his ability when he was younger and now had reached his border?

"Sanada."

Sanada turned to his Buchou questioningly.

"Thinking about the birthday present for Fuji-kun? Well, think about it carefully. After all this is a present for someone who has make you love tennis."

So Yukimura had known. He always knew that the gentle boy was a good observer. He thought Yukimura already figured out that Fuji was the boy that made Sanada curious for years even though he had already forgotten the boy's name and even face.

"I will."

---

Yuuta glanced nervously toward his parents at dinner. They still talked about the funny things that their experienced aboard. Yumiko said something once or two while Shuusuke just smiled casually. Well, at least Shuusuke was there.

He thought he knew the reason why his brother was there. Shuusuke said he would go to Kikumaru's place to help the red head to study for final exam. Yuuta was disappointed but he chose to shut his mouth. But then Shuusuke lightly said that he would cancel his appointment.

Somehow Yuuta knew that his brother had notice his uneasiness and could guessed that he was needed something. So Shuusuke did what he always did when he faced that situation. He didn't ask nor offer his help. He just stayed to provide Yuuta support if he needed it or if he asked for it.

Yuuta was relief that his brother knew him too well. There's a twinge feeling in his heart when he remembered that he would do something that would make his brother unhappy. But he just couldn't back down now.

"Uhm," Yuuta coughed a little. "Otousan, Okassan, Saturday is my birthday. Uh, could I invite my friends for a little party?"

He finished his speech in a second and looked hopefully at his parents.

"But, Yuuta, how about our special dinner? Don't you want me to cook all your favorites and have a nice talk like usual?"

Yuuta was panicked when he saw his mother's disappointed. Yumiko frowned. He knew that his sister was suspicious to him. Her stare warned him about the consequences he should pay if he breaks the promise she asked him before.

"Of course I love too. But my friends want to celebrate my birthday. I don't want to disappoint them too. So maybe we held the party at Sunday? Then we still could have dinner together."

"A party right before the school days? I don't think so, young man." His mother lifted her eye brow.

"Then maybe we could readjust it. Let's have a family's lunch instead of dinner so Yuuta could have his party." Shuusuke smiled gentle.

His parents looked at each other unsure.

"Oh, please let him be, Otousan, Okaasan. After all he is the birthday boy. Beside, you've been aboard for a year now. Don't you want to look what has change here? Beside, I had won a dinner at Versailles, the new French restaurant, for two people. You two should give it a try."

"Oh well, if you said so."

---

"Thanks, Aniki."

"Anytime, Yuuta. Need any help with the party?"

"Oh, no thank you. My friends would help me prepare it. They just asked me to ask permission too."

"Included that purple boy?"

"Aniki,' Yuuta sighed. "His name is Mizuki-san."

"I don't think I could remember it, Yuuta." Fuji smiled sweetly. "His name is too common."

"Need help to contact Versailles, Shuusuke? And let me pay a half of it okay?" Yumiko said softly after she cornered them.

"Huh? Didn't you say you won a dinner at Versailles?" Yuuta asked confused.

"He just helps you to get permission, Yuuta."

"Oh." Yuuta looked at Shuusuke guiltily. "Aniki, I…"

"It's okay, Yuuta. It's your birthday. You should have fun. Consider it as our birthday present for you." Fuji winked.

---

Tsuzuku…

Argh, this is too long. I knew I should break it into 2 chapters instead one. Don't you think so?

Sorry, I kept babbling so long about soccer. I watched Tenipuri and saw that Fuji had won in a tournament when he was younger. Yet people didn't recognize him when he enter Seigaku's tennis club. It was when he smashed back a missball that made Tezuka started to notice there was something in Fuji.

So this is my version about it. Fuji only entered one tournament before he vanished. So not many people recognized him. I won't tell the reason why. It should be in the next chapters. Beside I need to make Fuji good in one more sport than tennis where he was famous along with Katsu and Saeki.

I had read many soccer mangas so I think it would be safe to let Fuji be a good soccer player than other sports that I'm not really familiar with the rules. In later chapters I would only mention a little about soccer. Don't worry. I wouldn't turn this fic into a soccer fic.

I love the story about Hibino twins in Offside (Heiuchi Natsuko's manga). They rivalry is similar yet different from Fuji's brothers. The manga is released longer before Tennis No Ohjisama. But in this fic, I made Katsu becomes younger than Fuji. The talk about how to catch the ball was what Tatsuhiko said to Katsu when he was depressed. About soccer styles, it was what Katsu learnt at Brazil later. I just made him knew sooner.

And no, this is not a TezuFuji. Tezuka was happening to have a dark brown hair like Katsu. But their personalities were really different. And it isn't AtoFuji too. Fuji had humiliated Atobe so hard that made Atobe couldn't forget him and crazy to be seen as an equal. I already decided that I would stick to friendship. I would let the possibilities open at the end so you could pair Fuji with the one your chose in your mind.

Gomen ne : I'm sorry (Eiji just said it over and over in a breath )

Daijobu ka: are you allright?

Daijobu : I'm alright (the shorten way to reply to the question above)

Oniichan : big brother (but they could be used to address someone that was a little older than the speaker)

GK : Goal Keeper

FW : Forward

MF : Middle Field

DF : Defend Field

Hontou ni: Is it true?

Hai : right

Arigatou : thank you

Hyoutei no tensai : the prodigy from Hyoutei


	5. Before The Party

Disclamer : Still not own Tennis No Ohjisama. Hibino brothers belong to Heiuchi Natsuko.

Words in /….: someone's thoughts

Words in _Italic_ : flashback

Happy Easter, everyone! Sorry for the long wait. I know I had told some of you that the reason for Fuji to hate his birthday would be reveal in this chapter. That would be true before I realize that I had write this chapter into 30 pages! So I decided to break it into two chapters.

Ishka-chan has kidly beta this chapter in a day. I should post the two new chapters right now. But I'm falling sick right now. I caught a cold. My throat is sore and my head is dizzy. I haven't finish reading the editing chapters yet, only the first part. I decided to post the first part anyway so you don't have to wait longer. Hontou hontou ni gomen ne.

A Half-Second Dream

Chapter 5 : Before The Party

"Fuji-kun had confirmed about the party. His parents already approved of it. The party will be held at 07.00 pm." Inui said casually.

The regulars were still changing at the club room. As usual, the non regulars had already gone home. Fuji had changed quickly and bidded them goodbye, saying that his parents wanted him to come home early.

"Oh," Oishi looked unsure. "I feel bad for Fuji. It feels like we're interfering with his personal life behind his back. And using Fuji-kun's birthday as a tool for that purpose. Aren't we a bit too sneaky?"

"No no no, Oishi! You can't hesitate now! There's no turning back, okay?" Eiji exclaimed. "Besides, Yuuta won't loose anything. He'll even get more presents because of this, nya!"

"Kikumaru, are you sure your list about Fuji's favorites is accurate?" Inui asked skeptically.

"Of course I'm sure! Mizuki might be a loser in everything else, but when it comes to collecting data he's just almost as reliable as Inui!"

"Oh, so you got the list from Mizuki?"

"Hey, I'm still in my right mind, you know. He's the best person to ask about Yuuta. Although…" Eiji pouted. "He'd probably would say. 'So the great Seigaku couldn't get the datas by themselves could they? They still need my help after all. How touching.'" He said, mimicking Mizuki. Then topped it with Mizuki's trademark hairflip.

Momoshiro snickered. Even the others couldn't hide their smile. Even Ryoma had a light smirk playing in his lips.

"Isn't there any other way?" Oishi asked hopefully.

"Well, I had asked Kisazaru otouto. That's how I got the lists." Eiji smiled, pleased with himself. "That's way I could avoid Mizuki's great ego."

"Well, the party would be held the day after tomorrow. We should buy the presents quickly. How about we go to buy it now?" Oishi suggested.

Everyone agreed and quickly changed.

When everyone else had gone out, Ryoma surreptitiously approached Inui.

"Senpai."

Inui turned at him. Tezuka stopped right outside the door, without looking back.

"About the patterns of Fuji-senpai's absence, you said it started after he showed some symptoms…?"

Outside, Tezuka quietly waited to see where the conversation was leading to. It wasn't like him to be nosy, but if it concerned the regulars, especially their youngest one, then he just couldn't help but butt in. He had long stopped wondering how the younger pillar could do that to him.

"Could it be that the symptoms appeared around Fuji-senpai's- I mean, the other Fuji's- birthday has something to do with it? The time somewhat overlaps… But then again, it could be just a coincidence."

"Aa." Inui nodded.

"Maybe… It has something to do with Fuji-senpai's parents coming home?" Ryoma stated softly.

Tezuka slightly frowned when he heard the last question. Inui glanced to see if there was someone else nearby other than Tezuka. The other regulars were already considerably far from the club room.

"Echizen? How did you…?"

Ryoma turned to Tezuka. "I'm sorry, Buchou."

When Tezuka looked back at Ryoma, the boy's head was lowered. He could no longer see the latter's golden eyes- they were concealed by the shadow of his bangs. "I accidentally overheard your conversation with Inui-senpai when I came back to take the water bottle I left yesterday."

"Does anyone else know?"

"No. I didn't tell anyone."

"Good. Look, Echizen." Tezuka looked at Ryoma sternly. "We're not very clear yet about Fuji's relationship with his parents. It could be just our imagination. So, for Fuji's sake, please don't tell anyone."

"You don't have to ask me, Buchou." Ryoma nodded, meeting Tezuka's gaze evenly. Inside, however, he felt a little hurt about being doubted. "I know when to keep my mouth shut." He quietly added.

"I know." Tezuka's gaze softened.

"Oiiii!" Eiji yelled impatiently, waving at them from afar. "Are you guys coming or what?

"Hai hai." Ryoma sighed, then walked ahead of Tezuka and Inui.

When Ryoma was already out of the clubroom and Inui was sure that he and Tezuka were out of the younger one's earshot, Inui turned to Tezuka. "I think you offended him."

"I know. His eyes told me so." Tezuka sighed.

"That's right. His eyes are always very honest. But other than that, you saw something else in his eyes, am I right? For instance… those bags that are starting to form right below his eyelids. They're not that visible, especially because he's always wearing a cap, but since it's you, there's ninety-five… no, perhaps ninety-eight percent chance that you noticed."

"He's worried. That boy… He'd rather die than admit it but he does worry about his friends. He knows this matter is serious. And he's sincerely worried about Fuji. But to the point that he doesn't get enough sleep anymore… I can't allow it."

"Mm." Inui nodded. "But you could have just told him not to worry." He adjusted his glasses. "Maa. You've always been like that, Tezuka. You lose your cool when it comes to him."

---

Ryoma frowned. He just couldn't understand. And not being able to understand something always annoyed him. Whatever it was, he would end up thinking about it all day- and even all night- long until he figured it out.

He thought it over once more. All the evidence led him to think that Fuji-senpai may not have been on good terms with his parents? But then again, like he could talk. He himself bickered with his stupid Oyaji every second of every minute of every day, but… life without that perverted monk just wouldn't be the same.

He would never admit it out loud, but there are times that his father shows that he may actually- Ryoma cringed- _care_ for him. He remembered when he got hurt after his match with Ibu Shinji, His dad came to his room when he thought Ryoma was already asleep.

"Not bad." He whispered. He then began ruffling his son's hair.

So if even someone like Ryoma, whom his father always treated like he was so mada mada da ne, could be- Ryoma shuddered- cared for, then surely, Fuji-senpai's parents must love Fuji-senpai a lot. Fuji-senpai, after all, is what you could call a 'perfect son'. There was just nothing anyone could criticize about him. He had nice looks, he had average- maybe even above average- academic records, and he definitely stood out in athletics. Fuji-senpai was just… flawless. He was a prodigy, after all. Everything he did often left people awestruck.

Even the oblivious Echizen didn't fail to notice that Fuji-senpai was beautiful. He wouldn't say that his senpai was handsome because the word beautiful suits him better. He remembered this song by N'Sync that he once heard when he was still in America. He mused that God must have spent a little more time on Fuji-senpai, or something. Everywhere Fuji-senpai went, he was a head turner. The way he looked, the way he smiled, the way he did everything in a gracefully lazy way… and how stunning his eyes were whenever their gazes would accidentally meet. Not to mention he had such a soothing voice.

It was a wonder, really, why Fuji-senpai still didn't have a girlfriend until now.

'_It probably has something to do with his choice of food./ Ryoma inwardly snorted.'_

Ryoma then remembered that one time when he and Momo-senpai were passing through a bunch of girls doting on Fuji one time. Momo offhandedly asked him if he also thought Fuji-senpai was beautiful. Without a second thought, he answered 'No'. Of course, part of it was because he knew he wouldn't make it through alive if someone heard him saying 'Yes'. And besides, his senpais would tease him mercilessly about it and would start treating him like a girl.

But another- _bigger_- part of it was because the mere thought of what Fuji-senpai would do to him if he ever heard it made him shudder.

Besides, Ryoma somehow understood that Fuji-senpai wasn't pleased about being reminded about how effeminate he looked. That was what he learned when one time, while he was walking alongside Fuji-senpai across the school grounds towards the club room, another third year student- a member of the kendo club, judging from his uniform- had approached them furiously, pointing his wooden sword at them.

Fuji had instinctively stepped in front of Ryoma to shield him with his body, but Ryoma stubbornly stepped beside him and looked at the other person in the eye.

That person then started to angrily accuse Fuji of being the reason why the girl that he liked had refused him.

Curious by passing students had started gathering around them, and it was in front of all these people that the jerk started mocking Fuji-senpai about looking like a girl. And maybe it would be better for him to find a boyfriend instead of a girlfriend.

That made something within Ryoma snapped. Flashes of a memory he thought he had already forgotten began to resurface in his head.

He himself had a similar experience in America when he accidentally overheard some of the boys in his class, who were always so touchy-feely around him, talking behind his back.

"_Hey hey… I heard Ryoma won in the Junior tournament again. That's, what, four years in a row now, isn't it?"_

"_I know… And because of that, he's gotten more popular with the girls again."_

"_Yeah… But isn't it kinda weird? Even though his girls always flock around him, I heard he doesn't even have a girlfriend."_

"_He's too young for that."_

"_Cut the crap man, even fourth graders get girlfriends nowadays."_

"_Iiiiiidiots. Isn't it obvious? What girl would fancy a boyfriend who's more beautiful than her? It's an insult, man. An insult!"_

_Outside the door, Ryoma stood frozen, fists tightly clenched._

_Sure, he had always been told that he looked a lot like his mother, even though he had his father's eyes. But to be compared to a girl and be ranked more effeminate was just too… much._

_Since that day, Ryoma never spoke to those idiots again._

_Some friends they were. Ryoma had always been an introvert, so when they approached him, telling him they wanted to be friends with him, he didn't know how to react. But at the same time, he didn't want them to see that he was confused, so he accepted their offer with a casual shrug._

"…chizen? Echizen, what's wrong?"

Ryoma started when he felt Fuji's hand on his shoulder. All traces of smile were gone from the Tensai's sweet face, replaced by a genuine look of concern.

"Ah… no. Nothing."

Fuji just stared at him a bit longer, then let it go with a quiet "If you say so…"

He then turned to the other guy. He smiled, but the look in his eyes was so cold. Ryoma racked his brain… He was sure he had seen those eyes before. And then it clicked.

It was exactly the same eyes Fuji-senpai had right before his match against Kirihara.

Fuji-senpai didn't yell. He just stepped casually and said something with a low voice for only the boy's ears to hear then walked away, still wearing then same deceptive smile.

To this day, Ryoma couldn't forget how terrified the boy looked. His eyes were so wide that Ryoma thought they would popped out from the sockets. And he was shaking uncontrollably. No one ever knew what Fuji'senpai said. But the boy didn't go to school for weeks. He only came when his parents dragged him to school. Even so, the boy would freak out and flee whenever Fuji-senpai was nearby.

That day, Ryoma learned a very important lesson.

Never say Fuji-senpai looks like a girl.

---

_It was a week after the meeting at the tennis street court. Ryoma mused that it must be his curiosity that made him agree to help Kikumaru-senpai to do a little detective game. Kikumaru-senpai wanted to list all the books and cds that Fuji-senpai already had. He even dragged Momo-senpai, Inui-senpai and Kaidoh-senpai along. _

_How Eiji-senpai managed to drag Ryoma himself was something the boy wonder had yet to figure out._

_Kikumaru-senpai had sternly said they couldn't ask Oishi-senpai and Kawamura-senpai to help them. They would be too worried about interrude Fuji's privacy and how the Tensai would react if he catches them, and that would only blow up their cover. _

_Ryoma then asked why Kimumaru-senpai didn't ask Tezuka Buchou to come along. _

_Kikumaru-senpai changed the subject in a nanosecond. _

_Ryoma tugged his cap down to hide his satisfied smirk._

_Then again, it still didn't change the fact that it would really be a miracle if they got out of the Fuji residence alive, especially because of this kind of motive. _

_For a moment, Fuji arched an eyebrow when he saw them right in front of the doorstep. Eiji smiled, as if it was the most common thing in the world for them to visit the Fuji household. _

"_Saa, it's a nice surprise." Fuji usual smile took its rightful place._

_Eiji just burst in and quickly went straight to Fuji's room upstairs. Fuji sighed and asked the others to come in. After he closed the door, Fuji went to his room, the others tailing behind._

"_Eiji, what are you doing?" Fuji asked sternly._

"_It's payback time!" Eiji said cheerfully. "I said I would make you all pay for ruining my time with Chocolate before!"_

_Fuji sighed._

"_Eiji, it was months ago. Don't tell me you're still holding a grudge? Besides, at least, in the end, you had the chance to take picture with them and also got their autographs. And shouldn't you go after Oishi first if you want to take revenge?"_

"_I would." Eiji pouted. "But Oishi has a family gathering. And I was so bored. And I met these guys at the tennis street court. And then I remembered your house was pretty close by. And so I said why didn't we disturb Fuji?"_

_Fuji just shook his head, chuckling, after he heard Eiji babbling cutely._

"_So? Found anything interesting yet?"_

"_No. And it's your fault! You should at least make your room a mess or watching or reading your father adult stuff or something!"_

_While the others burst into laughter, Fuji noticed a lone little figure by his windowsill, curiously observing his lined up cacti._

"_Cute, aren't they?"_

_Ryoma startled. Fuji-senpai's footsteps were too quiet, so he didn't notice the latter until he was already right behind him. _

"_What part of them is cute? They're too noisy."_

_Fuji laughed lightly. "No no, I meant these little ones." Fuji gestured to his precious little treasures by the window._

"_Hmmm… Bet you don't think that when you get pricked by the thorns, though." Ryoma smirked._

_Fuji chuckled. "No, they're just arrogant that way. But that's what makes them all the more adorable. They stand proud and tall in a stubborn way even though they're so small. Just like someone I know."_

"_Eh?" Ryoma blinked up at his senpai. _

"_Fuji-senpai! I'm hungry. Do you have something to eat?" Momoshiro asked, but unbeknownst to Fuji, this was part of their 'plan'._

"_That's right! I'm a little hungry too! Please please please, Fuji!" Eiji begged._

"_Sa, I think I could fix something up. Be patient, ne? Why don't we come downstairs and I'll make something for you."_

"_Nah, we'll wait here. It's more comfy here." Momoshiro sat on the floor beside the bed and pretended to be interested in the photo magazine on the desk._

"_Don't worry about us, Fuji-senpai." Kaidoh said dryly. "I'm sure they are more than competent to entertain themselves._

"_He's right. Shall I help you cook something?" Inui kindly offered._

"_You don't have to!" Everyone, except Fuji, answered in unison._

_Fuji didn't move from where he stood. He looked at the remaining three with a smile that seemed harmless. But Ryoma noticed Fuji's eyes quietly scrutinizing them. _

_Fuji must've felt Ryoma's eyes on him, so he simply shrugged it off, smiling at them. _

"_Saa, please do feel at home. I'll be right back." _

_He walked towards the door, chuckling ominously._

_As soon as Fuji stepped out and closed the door behind him, Eiji tiptoed to the door, then pressed his ears to it. When the sound of Fuji's footsteps seemed to have died down, he sighed. "That was close!" _

_Everyone else sighed along._

_That is, until Ryoma spoke._

"_Senpai-tachi… You do realize you've just given him the freedom to make us eat anything he likes. And I mean _anything._"_

_Deathly silence followed Ryoma's words._

_Then Eiji and Momo promptly dashed to the kitchen._

_---_

_It was somewhat of a relief that Fuji didn't come back at once after Ryoma's somewhat cryptic warning._

"_Hmm, interesting choice of books does Fuji have." Inui started to read the titles out loud. "A collection of Lonely Planet. Awareness by Anthony De Mello. The Frog's Prayer and Called For Love, also by De Mello."_

"_Fsshh, Inui-senpai, we don't have much time." Kaidoh looked at the door worriedly._

_They could heard the sound of things that fell and all the noise that Eiji and Momoshiro made by whatever it was they were trying to do to buy some time._

"_Relax, Kaidoh. We still have 15 minutes. Well, 14 minutes and 35 seconds to be exact."_

_Ryoma felt the urge to smack say "Mada mada da ne!" but he just gritted his teeth and continued to jut down the titles of the books and cdsas fast as he could. Kaidoh followed his lead._

_Ryoma, however, couldn't help but flinch each time he wrote a title. There were various books written in English, which, if he used his classmates' level of English as a benchmark, shouldn't be read by a middle scholar. There were even titles like An Genetic Analysis of Human, Schrödinger's Equation & Wave Motion Function, A Study of Leonhard Euler's Formula, A Study of Dedekind Cut Theory only a dork like him who spent time on books as much as he did for tennis would bother paying attention to._

_He had flipped the books out of curiosity only to close them again quickly. The math problem he had accidentally read was not a material for a middle scholar, not even a high school student. And he knew about it because he had taken a look to the high school material when he was bored. _

_Ryoma felt a headache started to form after seeing all the math formulas that he never see before along with the talk of genetic and quantum. It was beyond him how Fuji-senpai could read those books. Well, if he was on his favorite spot at the school library, Ryoma might spend some times to read them to try to understand them. He wasn't someone who would back off from challenge. He had to remind himself that he was at Fuji-senpai's room and didn't surrender to the temptation that the books gave him. Ryoma scowled at the evil books._

_Now he could understand how Tezuka Buchou felt everytime Momo-senpai had an argument with Kaidoh-senpai. A continuous headache that could never disappeared. Ryoma smirked when he realized he had thought that Momo-senpai and Kaidoh-senpai were as annoying as the math problem he had encountered just now._

"_Enough. Put everything back the way they were." Inui finally said after what felt like a very long time for his kohais._

_They placed everything back as soon as they could. They could hear footsteps from downstairs and Eiji's chatter was loud enough to act as a signal for them. They could hear Eiji babbling about how sorry they were about the mess, that he didn't know how clumsy he and Momo were. _

_Then the door opened. Fuji came with a grim smile. Behind him, Eiji and Momo closely followed. Each of them carried a tray of food except for Momo who held a tray with cups of steaming hot chocolate._

_Fuji's eyes opened dangerously while he scanned his room._

"_Saa, I hope you found what you're looking for."_

_Everyone felt that the room's temperature had dropped when they heard how cold Fuji's voice was._

"_I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about, Fuji." Inui said calmly while adjusted his glasses._

_Ryoma admired that his senpai could stayed calm under Fuji-senpai's cold eyes. Only a few people could be that way. Well, he didn't know if Inui-senpai felt the same as they were inside. He surely didn't show it._

_But as for Ryoma himself… somehow, he couldn't look Fuji in the eye. It felt as though he had betrayed his trust, even though Fuji-senpai had always been so nice and gentle to him. _

_Fuji didn't say anything, instead he showed it. He gave the food tray to Kaidoh and started to place the book at his desk 2 degree to the left and pulled the bookmark 5 millimeter above. He made a little adjustment to the glass in his desk, the books in his shelves The arrangements of the books that were the same, since Ryoma didn't need to move them that much because all he had to do was copy the titles written on the sides, but he did take flip through some of the interesting titles so, the arrangement was somewhat altered. But the change was so little that it amazed him how Fuji-senpai noticed even that._

_Eiji and Momoshiro looked confused at Fuji's behaviour. Kaidoh looked bewilded._

_Ryoma's eyes widened slightly. 'Could it be that Fuji-senpai also…'_

_No sooner had Ryoma realized this did Inui voice his thoughts. _

"_I see. A photographic memory." The data play specialist stated calmly._

"_Huh? A photographic memory? Because Fuji loves photogtraphy? Then I have an acrobatic memory!" Eiji exclaimed._

_There's a silence. Everyone stared at Eiji. Ryoma saw that Fuji's anger had lessened a bit._

"_Kikumaru, there's no such thing as acrobatic memory!" Inui twitched annoyed._

"_Then how could Fuji have a photographic memory?" _

"_Kikumaru, a photographic memory is an ability to remember everything _exactly_ as you saw it."_

"_Sugoi! I wish I have it! So I wouldn't have to study hours for exam! No wonder Fuji-senpai is a tensai!" Momoshiro said in awe._

_Ryoma noticed that Fuji's body tensed upon hearing that._

_Ryoma immediately yet seemingly nonchalantly spoke up. "Momo-senpai, having a photographic memory doesn't mean that you shouldn't study. Besides, just remembering isn't enough. Wouldn't it be better to learn more about it? Not having photographic memory just means you have to put a bit more effort to in memorizing."_

_When their eyes met for a fleeting moment, Fuji smiled at him gratefully. _

_Ryoma could understand Fuji's feelings because he felt it too. A lot of people that he met always said that it's not a wonder Ryoma could play tennis that good. It was only because he was Echizen Nanjiroh's son. In that sense, he wasn't born with the gift at all! It was his father who was the prodigy. Not him. He was only trained. And he was trained really hard._

_But to Ryoma, that was the whole point. If he hadn't trained, if he hadn't put any effort, he wouldn't be able to play tennis the way he did now._

_Fuji seemed to have read through his thoughts, so when Ryoma snapped out of his unseeing gaze, he saw that Fuji's blue eyes were so gentle, it felt as though he was gently patting Ryoma's back. But his tender gaze disappeared when he turned back to the rest and asked once again._

"_You still haven't answered my question."_

"_Gomen ne, Fuji." Eiji started to sob. "It was all Inui's fault. He said that you never show your true self in tennis and everything. So we just curious to investigate if your strange taste for food and anything are the same with what you had show us."_

_Inui twitched, feeling as though putting the blame on him was thoroughly unjustifiable. Of course, Eiji was the only one capable of making up some excuses that sound truthful enough. But still… To be put straight to the lion's mouth… Inui started mentally calculating his formula for the next Inui Juice he would serve especially to Kikumaru._

_Fuji knew that they were hiding something. But he really didn't want to know. If the reason was what he was thinking about, he rather let it pass and pretended to be stupid._

"_And what did you find?"_

"_That you really have a unique taste for books." Inui stated. "And that you're really fond of cacti."_

_Fuji's cold eyes softened somewhat after hearing that. He spared a glance at Ryoma, only to see Ryoma looking questioningly at him. _

"_Fuji-senpai, may I look the pictures?" Ryoma asked while he pointed to the box under Fuji's bed._

_Everyone eyed Fuji hopefully. He didn't really feel like it. Fuji was never one to share his thoughts openly. But his pictures… Pictures never lie. And pictures reflect the photographer. They spoke about Fuji's passion when he took them. About the feelings he had when he took them. But he couldn't find an excuse to deny the request._

_He finally sighed. "All right." He finally smiled, gazing at Ryoma gently, as if saying sorry for the cold side of him he had shown. _

_Everyone gathered around Ryoma who picked the pictures out of the box. There were pictures that taken by Fuji that gave them a warm feeling, sent them a joyous feeling when they saw them. But some also gave them a dark feeling. A portrait to the darkness of life in this world. About the poor, the struggle and more sad realities. The similarity was the pictures gave a strong impact for those who looked at them. _

_There were also some photo books by some people that they didn't know. But the pictures were beautiful. The pictures' message were clear. The beauty, happiness, and grateful feeling for living. The photo book about the war victims gave a pang in their hearts when they saw the pictures. And the sympathy the photographer felt for them was clearly visible._

"_I love their works." Fuji sat on the edge of the bed, right behind where Ryoma was sitting cross-legged on the floor. "There's power and life in them, don't you think? I studied their works and tried it and made some innovations myself." Fuji explained calmly after he looked at their awed yet curious faces._

"_Wow! So you studied photography yourself?" Momoshiro was impressed._

"_Momo, when you have a hobby, don't you try to learn as much as you can about it too? Reading books about it, trying it yourself… These are things you'd do to do better at what you really like doing, right?" Then Fuji nodded to Ryoma, as if pointing out to Momo that he was an example of that. Momo grinned in understanding. "Ooohhh… I see."_

_Ryoma, on the other hand, was oblivious to the whole exchange, as a book at the second place from the bottom seemed to have caught his attention. The cover was a little path with huge trees on its left and right. The title was 'As The Seasons Go By'. Ryoma wondered why it looked familiar to him, before he remembered that it was one of his favorite books way back when he would spend hours and hours at his previous school's library. It was published by a known publisher in America. _

_/Oh… that's why./ Ryoma thought. _

_But when he looked down and read the name of the photographer, he dropped the book. _

"_You?"_

_Ryoma looked at Fuji, bewildered. The others saw his reaction so they took a peek. Ryoma flipped the pages and found it was published 3 years ago._

"_Fuji-senpai... Sugoi ne…" Ryoma said calmly._

"_Ah, I was just lucky. Someone who worked at the publisher liked my picture at a contest that I followed. He asked my permission to look at my other pictures and then offered to published them"_

"_It wasn't lucky! Luck wouldn't get you that far! You're really talented, Fuji!" Eiji said enthusiasm._

"_They were the scenery of places in America." Ryoma quietly spoke as he saw the pictures._

_The pictures were truly beautiful. The sceneries were taken during different seasons. The angle of the pictures taken was just right. The pictures seemed so alive and drew people into them. From the spring air to the winter cold, they could feel all of them by just looking. But there was something that sent them a lonely feeling in those pictures. Like the bitter feeling to watch the seasons come and go… yet feeling helplessly bound by time._

_And then Ryoma remembered that because he was always very busy with his tennis practices, his daily routine only allowed him to only go as far as home, school, and the tennis courts. That was part of the reason why he unconsciously developed a liking for books. Books were the only way he could travel. And this particular photo book was by far the one he liked best._

_Each time he felt exhausted from practice, he would always drop by the library first. And before he knew it, his feet would always lead him to that particular seat by the window right across the shelf where Fuji's photo book was kept._

"_Ah, I studied in America for awhile." Fuji's voice snapped Ryoma out of his thoughts._

_They waited but Fuji didn't say anything more. So they knew they should give up. They didn't say anything again about the matter. Just looked at the pictures and made some comments._

_At the bottom of the box was another photo book. There was something in the book that strongly called the watcher to take a moment to look at it. Ryoma raised his hand to take it but was stopped by Fuji's hand that took his and pressed the book to the bottom._

"_Fuji-senpai, may I take a look?" Ryoma asked calmly._

"_You wouldn't like it, Echizen." Fuji gently told him. "They're some of my earlier works so the technique was still raw." Fuji smiled casually._

_Eiji looked at Fuji, then Ryoma, then Fuji again._

"_Nya, we wouldn't mind! We won't tease you. Promise! Please please pleeeeaase, Fuji."_

_Eiji did his best puppies eyes to press Fuji. Fuji sighed. He didn't really want them to see that book. This particular book revealed more of his feelings than what he would've liked. _

_But seeing Eiji's pleading eyes and everyone else's curious stares, Fuji sighed and finally decided to cave in. "All right all right."_

_Instead of letting go of Ryoma's hand, he pulled the book out with their hands on top of each other then placed it on Ryoma's lap._

_The cover was a picture in black and white, which showed footsteps on the sand while the waves slowly erased them from the shore. The golden words on the book were read as 'Footsteps Through The Time". Ryoma saw that the photographer was indeed Fuji. The book was published only a year ago by a well-known publisher in Japan._

_They flipped the pages slowly. There were some black and white pictures along with the colorful ones. There were the scenery of some places in Japan like Tokyo, Kyoto, and more. Although they guessed that Chiba had more shots compared to the other places. There were some places from outside Japan too. Ryoma could recognized some places at Germany from where they visited Tezuka. Only the pictures that taken at the visit weren't there since the book was published long before that incident._

_The pictures took from times to times and arranged in the book so they could see the changes in the scenes. Event though some of the pictures were taken when Fuji was still so young, the pictures were sharp and told what Fuji wanted them to see. There's no denial that as time passed, Fuji's techniques became more and more polished. But it didn't lessen his early days' works as something that had the power to catch everyone's attention._

_Ryoma mused that the pictures in this book told more than the first book they saw. There was sadness as the photographer watched how time could cruelly passed by so fast. Happiness changed into grief, hope turned to despair as they couldn't do anything to stop the flow of time. _

_How could this always-smiling Tensai that they've known take pictures that screamed heartbreak like this?_

_But the changes weren't all bad. The more recent pictures seemed to give off a peaceful, and more stable feeling. A warm feeling from some interactions of people there that told them that humanity could still be saved. The sadness and relief were so intense, but left them satisfied. There was a clear reminder for all who watched it to be careful of what they do, and savor each moment to the fullest. Nature, environment, people… All of these change and whither through time. And what time had taken away is often something one could never take back. _

_While looking through the photos, Fuji caught Ryoma smiling. Perhaps even Ryoma himself wasn't aware of it, but Fuji found himself smiling along with Ryoma._

_That's right… thinking of the future is wise. But so is treasuring what you have in the present._

_---_

"Aniki," Yuuta's head emerged from the door.

"Ah, Yuuta." Shuusuke smiled warmly. "Come in."

"Do you need any help?" Yuuta said while studied all the decorations that his aniki made.

"My, that's really sweet of you, Yuuta." Shuusuke chuckled. "But it's all right, I'll manage."

Yuuta must admit that he was really impressed. His aniki was truly talented. He made a long paper crafting that depicted a tennis match. Yuuta could easily imagine that it would be the center of attention once displayed in the living room.

Shuusuke had been working on the decorations since Tuesday. After he heard about Yuuta's birthday party, he handled all the decorations. Yuuta was very happy for this time his aniki always got home earlier than usual. Well, except when he went to buy all the materials he needed for decoration.

Yuuta had kept debating with himself if he should asked his aniki about the time around his birthday when his aniki always went home late. He never thought that his aniki would avoid meeting their parents until his talk with Inui-san. But he didn't really know how to ask his aniki about it. So he kept them all to himself.

Yuuta's attention was caught by the balloons that Shuusuke arranged. His jaw just dropped when he saw them.

"Wow, Aniki! How did you make them? It's as good as the ones that I saw at TV Champion!" Yuuta exclaimed while he took a big transparent balloon, which had little pink balloons that arranged like sakura blossoms.

"Ah, thank you, Yuuta. I never knew you loved to watch that show."

Yuuta laughed embarrassedly.

"I didn't watch it all the time. Just some of the episodes. Like the contest about who the best chef for cakes, the one who know all the cheap but delicious meal, the ramen man and so on."

Shuusuke looked amusedly.

"Hey, it was Yanagisawa-buchou's fault." Yuuta said defensively. "He was the one who always watched it. He said he learned a lot from the show. Like the best ramen shops, the delicious cakes shop and all. I got interested when it showed the eating contest."

"Ah, I remembered that one. I thought maybe Momo should participate on that one." Shuusuke laughed lightly.

"So you do watch it too," Yuuta said thriumphly.

Shuusuke just smiled gently while his hand kept working to arrange the balloons. He inflated each balloon by filling it with just the right amount of helium. He arranged them to make a resemblance of a tennis player that posed to hit the ball.

"You're… really a tensai, Aniki." Yuuta softly stated, admiring his older brother's work.

He noticed that his aniki's fingers were tensed when he said it. But then he swiftly continued working.

"That's not true, Yuuta." Shuusuke said softly.

"Oh no, it is true. You're really talented. In tennis, school, photography, art, in everything!"

"Yuuta."

Yuuta stopped. There's something in his aniki's voice that told him something was wrong. Shuusuke didn't smile. He didn't look angry either. He just had a blank expression. But there was something in his exterior that told Yuuta his aniki was upset. Yuuta just couldn't figure the reason.

He kept thinking about what he had said. It must be something that he said. He just didn't know what he said that could upset Shuusuke that much.

"Aniki." Yuuta said carefully. "What's wrong?"

"Ie. It's nothing, Yuuta." Shuusuke forced a smile. "Don't worry."

Yuuta didn't believe him. He knew something was bothering his aniki.

"Aniki, is it because I said that you're a tensai? Do you worry about what I feel about it?"

That's the only reason that Yuuta could think would trouble his aniki. He knew he had treated Shuusuke very poorly because of his lack of self-confidence. But it didn't mean he hated his aniki. And he felt the urge to tell Shuusuke about it right now.

"Aniki, you should stop worrying about it. I mean it. Sure it bothers me when people compare… But you're my brother. To hate you for something like that would be so... low."

Shuusuke looked at him curiously.

"Uhm, I … I … I've always been proud of you. I just… I've always wanted to make you proud of me too. But I'm not you. I couldn't be as bright as you are. And … sometimes… I snap because of all the pressure. I just… I just want to be able to confidently stand on equal footing with you and Neesan. So I need to try harder. Then someday you could proudly say that I'm your otouto."

"Yuuta…"

"No, Aniki. Let me finish before I lose the courage to say it." Yuuta said determinedly. "If I had stayed in Seigaku, I know you would help me but that wasn't what I needed. I needed to learn how to stand on my own. Then I would be strong and make you proud at me."

His voice became a whisper. Yuuta didn't dare to look at Shuusuke. It was too embarrassing for him. He didn't the type of person who could open himself. Well, it seems that his aniki wasn't that type either or else his friends wouldn't try that hard to know about his birthday.

Yuuta was startled when he felt Shuusuke hug him tightly.

"Now it's my turn to say Baka Yuuta." Shuusuke's voice was tremble. "I would never feel ashamed to you! You're my otouto! My only one! You don't know how much we eagerly waited during your birth."

Yuuta felt hot tears threatening to fall from his eyes. And he knew Shuusuke felt the same.

"You know what, Yuuta? I've always been proud of you." Shuusuke whispered.

Yuuta didn't know what to say. He just returned the embrace more tightly. They stayed that way for a while before they realized about their situation. They let go of each other as they laughed nervously. Even in that situation, Yuuta felt pleased that he could see his aniki that way.

Shuusuke always be in control for everything. He was never the one who let his feeling exposed freely. Yuuta never saw his aniki feel nervous like that. And Yuuta enjoyed that rare moment very much. As long as he didn't need to remember how embarrassing he was either.

They talked while Shuusuke continued his work. Yuuta didn't remember how long have they talked. He felt happy. He didn't remember when was the last time they could talk so freely like that. Yuuta knew the fault was his. He always guarded himself, his feelings, and in process he hurt his aniki's feeling.

He didn't know the time when he felt drowsy. He was snuggled comfortly in Shuusuke's bed.

"Yuuta, you should go to your room."

"Hmm, don't wanna. Cozy."

Shuusuke smiled. He didn't push Yuuta, instead he covered his otouto with blanket. He continued to make the decorations.

---

Tsuzuku…

The whole Chocolate things are from the anime version when Eiji was chosen to have a visit by his idols. But Oishi came and then Fuji. And the others followed. Well, except for Tezuka who was in Germany that time.

Lonely Planet is a guide book for the people who love to travel. There are information of the best places to visit, the foods you should try, the information to get there and much more.

All the strange books that Fuji has was taken from Q.E.D by Katou Motohiro. Well, only the quanta mechanical book (_Schrödinger's Equation & Wave Motion Function)_ that really a book in Q.E.D. The others I made up from the conversation in that manga.

Ah, and there's Fuji's brotherly love. I always love to read stories about it. Cause I think Yuuta really hurted Fuji's feeling when he treated him harshly before the match with St. Rudolph. I love to see the change after that match. Yuuta was more supportive to his aniki. I love to see him embarrassed because of Fuji's joke.

TV Champion was a program in Japan about various contests. They had competed about the one who could eat the most (surprisingly the winner was the thin one!), ramen biggest fan, decorative specialty, the owner of the most trained dog, and more. I loved to watch it, especially anything that showed Japanesse foods. Hmm, yummy.

Oyaji/Otousan : father

Sugoi ne : amazing, wonderful

Gomen ne : sorry

Hontou hontou ni gomen ne : I'm really really sorry


	6. Unexpected Birthday Party’s Result

Disclamer : Still not own Tennis No Ohjisama.

Words in /….: someone's thoughts

Words in _Italic_ : flashback

Thanks to everyone for the encouraging. The next chapter must wait a little longer cause it turned out that I'm not only catch a flu but a throat's infection also. > And the medicine makes me sleepy.

A Half-Second Dream

Chapter 6 : Unexpected Birthday Party's Result

Shuusuke awoke when he felt someone gently shaking his shoulder.

"Aniki. Aniki, wake up."

Shuusuke opened his eyes slowly. His body felt stiffed because he slept at a rather uncomfortable position last night. He was felt asleep in a sitting position. Only his head that been pillow by his bed. He smiled tiredly.

"Ohayou, Yuuta." He stretched his stiffen body with a little yawn.

"Gomen." Yuuta looked guiltily.

"Huh? For what?" Shuusuke asked confused. "Oh, because of this? Don't worry about it. I didn't intend to sleep like that. I was finishing the last decorations and before I realized it, I dozed off. Oh, by the way!" Fuji clapped his hand once. "Otanjobi omedetou, Yuuta."

"Ah, thanks." Yuuta said with a slight pink color in his cheek.

"Wait a second."

Shuusuke stood gracefully and went to take something from the top of his clothes drawer. There was hidden in the back a wrapped birthday present.

"Here you go. I hope you like it."

"Aniki, you didn't have to." Yuuta looked at the gift that wrapped beautifully. "You already gave me a present with give Otousan and Okaasan a dinner in that French restaurant."

"Nah, that's okay, Yuuta. Besides, I already bought it before I knew about this party plan." Shuusuke smiled.

Yuuta caressed the present gently.

"Well? Won't you open it?"

Yuuta looked at the wrapper. It was so beautiful that he felt almost a sin to tear it. But finally he unwrapped the present carefully. Yuuta held his breath when he saw it.

"Aniki… it's…"

He couldn't finish his word. Inside the long box was a telescope.

"I hope you like it. You used to love watching the stars when we were kids." Shuusuke said tenderly.

Yuuta was at a loss for words. Yes, he used to love watching the stars. What Shuusuke didn't know was he loved it because Shuusuke loved it too. As far as he could remember, Shuusuke always loved to watch the sky. Not only the night sky but also the day sky. Little Yuuta was curious about what was so interesting in the sky that made his aniki always spend a lot of time watching it.

He remembered that he had accompanied Shuusuke in one night and asked him about what was he watching. His aniki answered that he was watching the stars. Shuusuke told him then about the Milky Way, the polar star, even about Tanabata. He fell in love with the stars through Shuusuke's story. He even cried when the night was clouded so Orihime couldn't meet her love at Tanabata Festival.

But the stars only could be seen in the nighttime. Even so, Yuuta believed that Shuusuke could saw them even in the daylight. That's why his aniki loved to spend his time watching the sky day and night. Shuusuke was blessed, that was what Yuuta had long believed.

Yuuta never watched the stars again after he came to St. Rudolph. He didn't want anyone to tease him that he was a dreamer or a romantic or something that could embarrass him. Even Mizuki-san didn't know it. He thought Shuusuke already forgot about it since he never talked about it. He was deeply touched to know that his aniki still remembered.

"Yuuta?"

"Huh? Uh, gomen. I just didn't know that you still remembered. Arigatou, Aniki. I really love it."

Shuusuke smiled genuinely. He was happy that his otouto loved his present.

"Sa. Let's work on the decorations now, shall we? Then I would make tiramisu as I promised to you last night. Are you sure you want it? I thought your friends would take care of the food."

"They will. But I don't want to miss your tiramisu. Your tiramisu is the best! And don't worry about it going to waste. Those people are bottomless pits." Yuuta said a little irritated when he thought he couldn't eat the cake that his aniki made as many as he wanted it.

---

Shuusuke watched the scene silently. It was like watching a black and white movie. Just sat there as an outsider, not as a part of them. They were his family, but he never felt like one of them. He had long ago closed his heart. It was the safest way. He didn't want to feel hurt anymore.

"_He scared me. Why did he always look at me like that? I don't know what he's thinking. Why didn't he say anything? A not so sweet little boy."_

Shuusuke closed his eyes. How could their words still hurt that much while it's already been years? And what did he do here? Playing a family? They never wanted him to be there. Well, exept for Neesan and Yuuta. So why did he still hope something would change?

"Aniki."

He was startled by Yuuta's hand on him. He looked at the eyes of concern from his siblings and the uneasiness from his parents. He forced himself to smile. Anything to make them stop looking at him like that.

"Gomen, Yuuta. I was thinking about the party. To check if I had forgotten anything."

---

Yuuta wasn't a sensitive boy. He knew it already. But it was too clear now for him to not notice it. He could saw it now about how forced his aniki's smile was. And so were his parents'. Shuusuke didn't say much. Just a short comment here and there. And they didn't look at each other.

It was too obvious that made Yuuta wonder how could he be so blind before not to notice it. It seems that his parents and aniki tried their best not to look at each others. They looked for barely a moment before they glanced the other way.

He couldn't understand what was happening between them. Shuusuke was a brilliant boy that would make any parents proud of him. Yuuta felt anger boiling inside him. No parents should treat their child like that. He knew the fault was not Shuusuke's. His aniki was a gentle boy that wouldn't have a heart to hurt anyone, anything.

He remembered when they went out together. Shuusuke always didn't have a heart to see others suffer. He always gave his food to the poor because he couldn't stand to eat alone when he knew there was someone who needed the food more. He didn't throw away even the tanpopo that incidently grew in the pot that he used for his cacti. He would cry and bury the animal that was killed in the streets.

So it's really not his aniki's fault. The cold atmosphere there was his parents' fault. Yet they were loving parents to Yuuta, always caring. So why did they treat Shuusuke different? Yuuta couldn't wait for the party. Somehow he felt that he would find the answer there.

---

Tezuka thought nothing would surprise him anymore. He had enough in these passing days. Yet the sight of the regulars a block before Fuji's house caught him off guard.

"Hi, Tezuka." Oishi smiled apology. "We just thought it would be better to come together as the last one to arrive."

"The Rikkadai was the first one who arrived. Then St. Rudolph people. Kisarasu twins came together with Saeki." Eiji reported willingly.

"Rokkoku's fukubchou," Oishi answered when he saw Tezuka raised his eye brow to him. "Also Fuji's childhood friend."

"Hyoutei was the last one who arrived. Of course Atobe was the last from them all. Maybe he thought it would be more stylists if he did that." Eiji snickered.

"We waited for you because we didn't want to ruin the surprise element. It would be 70.75 percent successful if we come together and catch Fuji off guard."

Tezuka didn't say anything. He just nodded while he was heading to Fuji's house with the others hot in his trail.

"There's something that I don't know if I should tell you."

Everyone stopped when they heard Inui's words.

"What is it?" Tezuka asked.

"There's something that disturbs me about our meeting with the soccer boy. I asked Inoue-san to help me to ask his colleague who's in soccer magazine. I want to know if Fuji Shuusuke's name means something for him."

"And?" Tezuka raised his eye brow.

"Inoue-san's colleague enthusiastically told about a genius ten-year-old boy that almost brought Japan to reach the first place in The Youth World Cup Under Twelfth almost five years ago. The boy was called Fantasista because of his brilliant play while he already famous before here as The Field Magician."

"The boy was Fuji." It was more a statement than question from Tezuka.

Inui nodded.

"Inoue-san was very surprised to find out about it. It seems that everyone had expected so much from Fuji but he suddenly disappears five years ago. Japan reached the second place at that championship but Fuji was chosen as MVP."

There was a long of silence.

"Why did Fuji-senpai stop playing soccer when he almost reached the top…?" Ryoma asked softly.

"Inoue-san couldn't get the information yet. His colleague had suspected him knew something about Fuji and refused to tell more if Inoue-san wouldn't tell what he knew. And Inoue-san was not sure to tell about Fuji. He didn't want Fuji become the centre of publicity. He was afraid that Fuji would reconsider soccer again over tennis. Inoue-san thought it would be a waste if Fuji throws away tennis."

No body knew what to say. They could understand Inoue's reason.

"What is Fantasista mean?" Eiji asked softly.

"Fantasista is someone who could overwhelm time and space. When we watched the soccer game, we used to think that the ball should be pass to some place to some one than what the player did. The truth is not as simple as that. The area that eyes could see is not that wide so it would affected the game. Fantasista is above it. They seems like they could view the match in the same view as the watcher."

"As expected from Fuji." Eiji smiled sadly. He felt a pang inside that there's something about Fuji that he didn't know.

"We need to be going." Tezuka's said after a along of silence. He thought it was no used to stand out there. They should confront Fuji themselves.

---

They wished Yuuta happy birthday and gave their present. Everyone admired the decorations. There was a paper craft that hang around the living room that resembled a tennis match. Eiji looked in awe at the balloons and all the hand made ornaments there. After some times, Tezuka finally looked questioningly to the birthday boy.

"Uhm, Aniki is upstairs. Please come along."

Yuuta was nervous. He felt like he had needles on his stomach. He was nervous. He realized he couldn't back off now, yet the confident he had before had fly little by little. He led the others upstairs, followed by Atobe who didn't want to be let out of anything.

He knocked the door softly but didn't get the answer. So Yuuta opened the door a little. A song was heard clearly now. Fuji was looking distantly to the window where he placed his cactus. There's something in his silhouette that radiated the sense of sadness and loneliness. Yuuta closed the door again quickly.

"Uh… I… uhm, I think I'll tell Aniki to be prepared for the party. Please wait downstairs."

No body said a word. They went downstairs and gathered together. Saeki was frowning suspected while looked at them.

"What's an interesting song Fuji had chosen to hear." Atobe was the first one who broke the silence.

"Huh? What about the song?" Eiji looked confusedly.

"It was 'Who Wants To Live Forever' by Sarah Brightman. There's some part of the lyric that I remembered." Atobe stopped awhile before continuing. "Here's some of the lyric in Japanese : There's no time for us, There's no place for us, What is this thing that builds our dreams, Yet slips away from us. Who wants to live forever, Who wants to live forever."

Everyone was silenced.

"Uh, it's not really a happy song." Eiji said thoughtfully.

"Indeed. That's why it's not ordinary to choose a song like this at a happy moment like a birthday party." Atobe said smugly.

"They're coming." Oishi said warningly.

---

Shuusuke almost jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Yuuta."

"Gomen. I'd knocked but you didn't hear me. The guests already come. You should get dress and come downstair."

"Yuuta, really. It would be better if I stay here. They are your friends. There must be something that you would talk about that you wouldn't want me to find out. So, please enjoy the party. Don't think about me. I'm fine really."

"Oh no, you don't. They know you too remember? After all, we all are tennis players. Come, Aniki. They've been asking for you. Beside, Saeki-san is here too."

"Sae? You invited him?"

"Ah, I didn't tell you before did I?" Yuuta acted as calm as he could. "I invited Kisarasu-senpai's twin brother. He rarely spends much time with his brother since he transferred to St. Rudolph. So I thought it's a chance for them to be together. Since Kisarasu-senpai's brother doesn't know my friends that well, I thought it would be better if I invited Saeki-san too."

"Oh."

Shuusuke didn't say anything anymore. He felt that something was up. That his otouto had planned something. He just couldn't think the reason. He stood slowly.

"Give me some time, Yuuta." He started to choose his cloth slowly.

"I'll wait downstairs." Yuuta smiled.

---

Yuuta was the first one who came down. He nodded slightly to warn the others. Saeki looked at him warningly. He didn't know what Yuuta and the others had planned but he knew that something was up since the moment he saw them.

It was a rare sight to see all the Seigaku regulars along with St. Rudolph and Hyoutei regulars. Rikkadai was presented by their buchou and fukubuchou, followed by the arrogant first grade that had hurted Fuji purposely at their match before. The only representative from Rokkoku was Ryou and him.

It wouldn't feel so strange if the Seigaku regulars weren't there. After all he knew what Fuji felt about birthday. His thought was disturbed by gentle thuds from the stairs. Fuji was coming from his room. He wore a casual white cloth with a white pant that made him look like an angel.

/An angel with black wings./ Ryoma couldn't help that thought to pop up again when he saw his senpai's appearance.

Fuji wore his usual smile. The smile froze when he saw his team mates were along with the guests. For a moment his eyes locked with their eyes. Then calmly without saying anything, he walked to the kitchen. He didn't say anything to them as he passed them, not even that he acknowledged their presence.

But Ryoma wasn't blind. Somehow, when he looked at the closed door of Fuji's room where they were weeks before, he felt that nagging guilty feeling again.

---

Saeki looked accusingly at Yuuta and Fuji's team mates. Somehow he knew that was what would happen when he saw them. Without saying anything, he went to chase Fuji.

Fuji was standing near the window. He supported his weight by the left shoulder that was pressed to the wall with his hands that hugged his thin body. His head was hanging low. Saeki could see how tense Fuji's body was.

"Fuji? Daijoubu ka?" He asked gently.

"Eiji had been nagging me about when is my birthday." Fuji's voice was almost a whisper.

"You didn't tell him." It was a statement.

"I told him that it's not a tradition in my family to celebrate birthday."

Saeki was startled when Fuji looked at him. The eyes are the window to a man's soul. Shakespeare's quote suddenly popped up in his mind. Fuji's eyes were so broken. He looked trapped. Yuuta and the others didn't know that they had pushed Fuji to the edge.

"Wait here." His voice sounded commanding.

And like a lost little boy, Fuji just nodded tiredly.

---

They were gathering together. They didn't know what to do. Fuji's reaction wasn't what they had expected him to do. They were expected him to be caught off guard but still in control for himself. He would play along with them. Of course he couldn't avoid the topic again and told them about when was his birthday.

They never expected him to ignore them completely and went. They couldn't forget how cold Fuji's stare was.

"Oreesama doesn't understand why we should go through all this trouble to know about Fuji's birthday." Atobe raised his voice frustrated. "It would be easier if you just asked him yourself! After all, you're his childhood friend!"

Tezuka was surprised when Atobe pointed at him.

"I'm not Fuji's childhood friend! I only met him when he joined Seigaku's tennis club!"

"That's true. Saeki-san is Fuji's childhood friend. Not Tezuka." Oishi confirmed.

"That's nonsense! You were started to learn tennis together when you were eight! And you even supported him when he joined a young championship months later!"

Tezuka twitched. He felt annoyed by Atobe's accused to him.

"Just because we started to learn tennis in the same age doesn't mean we knew each other well. I never came to any championships since I was busy with training! I joined just one championship, and it was before I went to Seigaku!"

Atobe turned quickly to Sanada.

"It was him, right?" He asked demandingly.

Sanada coughed uncomfortable with all the stares he got.

"Fuji-kun was accompanied by two people, yes. I just don't remember their faces."

"You should be more reconsidering to anything that happened around you!" Atobe snapped. "It was him with that Rokkoku's fukubuchou!"

Their argument stopped when the kitchen's door was opened. Saeki emerged. He glared heatedly to them as he walked passed them to Fuji's room. They looked at each other while they were thinking what they should do now. Should they followed Saeki or go to the kitchen to check on Fuji.

"Yuuta, is everything alright?"

They were startled by Yumiko's voice. She had come downstairs because she felt something was happening. She didn't expect the party to be as loud as in the rock concert, but of course she didn't expect it to be as quiet as in a cemetery either. She had passed Saeki who went to Fuji's room.

Saeki had said something like watching the stars together. Now that was strange. Yumiko knew that Shuusuke always love to watch the sky. But to do that in their little brother's birthday party? That was really so unexpected. Beside, the grim smile in Saeki's face made her knew that something happened.

"Ah… uh, I… we…" Yuuta was speechless. He had that look like the mouse that caught by the cat.

Before Yuuta could say anything and before Yumiko could ask anymore, Saeki had come down. He had Fuji's coat along with a scarf, the gloves, and long socks. Saeki walked passed them to take Fuji's shoes and his belonging.

"Sorry to leave the party so early, Yumiko-Neesan." He smiled apologetically. "And I'm really sorry to take Fuji with me. But he had promised to show me the best place to view the stars in Tokyo. Tonight the sky is so clear. I couldn't let the moment pass. Hontou hontou ni gomen ne."

Yumiko wasn't sure if she should allow them go. She thought that they should clear the problem right here and now. But she looked at Saeki's determined face. He nodded to her reassurely. She made up her mind and nodded her agreement. They watched him fled to the kitchen.

Yumiko turned to Yuuta.

"Now tell me what happen." She glared at her little brother.

Yuuta gulped. He was indeed in deep trouble now.

---

"Let's go."

Fuji turned to Saeki surprised. He had watching outside from the window so he didn't hear Saeki was back. He looked at the equipments in Saeki's hands but didn't say anything nor that he accepted them.

Saeki sighed. He helped Fuji to put the coat and the gloves. Then he wrapped the scarf on Fuji's neck. "Come." Saeki held his hand, but Fuji instinctively drew his own hand back. Saeki then quietly took his arm instead.

Fuji allowed himself to be led away from the house and all the things that had troubled him.

---

"You did what?" Yumiko raised her voice furiously.

Yuuta wished a hole would be appearing in front of him so he could jump and away from his sister's wrath.

"Yuuta, I asked you specifically to not ever mention about Shuusuke's birthday didn't I?"

"But I just don't understand! What is so sacred about Aniki's birthday that no one would ever mention about it! We didn't do anything wrong! We just want to give him a nice surprise party! I don't recall that we had celebrated Aniki's birthday anymore since eight years ago while we still celebrate ours!"

"It's almost nine years now, Yuuta." Yumiko said calmly at Yuuta's outburst.

"Whatever!" Yuuta snapped. "That time it couldn't be say as a birthday party either. Aniki didn't celebrate it with us. So that's one wasn't count!"

"We didn't do anything wrong!" Yuuta said it again more like to convince himself. "We just wanted to celebrate Aniki's birthday."

"But, Yuuta, Shuusuke had stopped completely to celebrate his birthday since fifth years ago."

The Seigaku regulars looked at each other. The exact time when Fuji had stopped to play soccer.

"But why?"

Yumiko sighed.

"You're right. You didn't do anything wrong. I should have told you the reason earlier. Then you wouldn't have through all these difficulties only to have the plan backed fire on you."

They looked confused. Somehow they had the feeling that they wouldn't like what they heard.

"Fifth years ago Shuusuke had specifically asked us to not ever mention about his birthday anymore. He even told us to not give him any presents. Before, he still accepted the presents even as he had stopped having a birthday party. But since fifth years ago, he refused any presents that we gave. He became so upset so we decided to follow what he wanted."

Yumiko seems lost in her thought.

"Neesan?" Yuuta asked carefully.

Yumiko blinked.

"Ah, gomen." She smiled sadly. "Do you really want to know, Yuuta? The reason why Shuusuke hates his birthday so much is because on his birthday he had lost one of his best friends. Dakara… on his birthday, Shuusuke always spends it to paying respect to that important person."

---

Tsuzuku…

So the secret is revealed. Is this what you had expected? Or I made you disappointed?

Yuuta was calling Saeki as Saeki-san here because they weren't close. Even though Saeki was Fuji's childhood friend, he was rarely met Yuuta in my story. It was only Fuji who went to Chiba and befriend with Saeki. And yes, Saeki knew the reason why Fuji despises his birthday so much. He knew it better than Yumiko herself. But the next chapter would be Yumiko's side explanation about it. Saeki must wait a little more.

Oyaji/Otousan : father

Okaasan : mother

Gomen : sorry

Ohayou : good morning

Otanjobi omedetou : happy birthday

Arigatou : thank you

Tanpopo : dandelion flower

Daijobu ka: are you alright?

Neesan : older sister

Hontou hontou nig omen ne : I'm really really sorry

Dakara : because of that


	7. Fuji's Past

Disclamer : Tennis No Ohjisama belong to Konomi Takeshi-sensei. Words in /….: someone's thoughts

Words in _Italic_ : flashback

Big thanks to G.Rei Lam for corrected me that St. Rudaolp's buchou's name is Akazawa. Somehow I get misplaced it with the 'da ne' guy. > 

A Half-Second Dream

Chapter 7 : Fuji's Past

There was a long silence when they heard what Yumiko had said. No one knew what to say. They never expected things to turn out like that. That the reason for Fuji to never talk about his birthday had something to do with death.

"Uhm, Yuuta." Akazawa coughed. "I think we better leave now."

St. Rudolph's Buchou was a polite boy. He had seen everything from the time Fuji came out from his room only to ignore them and went to the kitchen till Rokkoku's Fukubuchou said he's leaving with Fuji. Akazawa knew that something was not right. He could see the sheer of panic and upset in Yuuta and the Seigaku regulars. Even Atobe. Mizuki seemed grumpy while the others looked curious.

Akazawa had wondered if he was the only one who didn't know what was going on. But after observed all the guesses, he was sure that his team mates were the same as him. Well, it seems that only Mizuki and Kisarasu that knew about what happened. Since they didn't include him and his team mates in the matter, Akazawa thought it would be wise to leave so they could talk freely.

Yuuta seems distracted. A part of him was relief that his buchou was so understanding that he wanted to give him time to solve his problem. But another part of him was feeling guilty. He felt that he had used them as a reason for throwing a party. And now they must leave before the party even started.

"Uh, Akazawa-senpai, you don't have to. The party isn't even started yet." Yuuta tried to be a good host.

"It's okay really, Yuuta. I think you have a lot to talk to with Fuji-san." He nodded to Yumiko.

"That's ridiculous." Yumiko finally took the charge. "There're so many foods here that would be waste while there're many people out there that needed them more! No body could leave this place before they are full. Please, Akazawa-kun, I'm insiste. Just make yourself comfortable."

Yumiko turned to her otouto and said, "Yuuta."

Yuuta looked at her, expecting a command. He didn't have to wait long.

"I believe you can take care of everything from here, correct? We'll talk about it later."

Yuuta nodded gratefully.

"Well then, gentlemen, please enjoy the party." She nodded gracefully to them then left them on their own.

---

It was the worse party everyone had attended. The food was good, but no one could really enjoy it. They didn't joke and fool around. Only ate silently. They changed one or two words quietly to their companion. The rest of time they just stayed silence.

Atobe had commented about the tiramisu that they ate. It seems that the cake was better than the one he ate at Italia. Yuuta had said absently that it was his aniki's home made. Everyone was surprised. The discovery was added as some ability that Fuji had.

After they ate, Akazawa said his goodbye again. This time Yuuta didn't stop him. He said his thanks for his senpais' time. Akazawa left with his team mates, except for Atsushi. Mizuki had wanted to stay because he wanted to know about Fuji's untold story. But Akazawa didn't let him. He dragged Mizuki along by saying he owned Akazawa an explanation.

Yuuta looked cautiously to the remaining ones. Atobe sat with his hands crossed above while he glared to Yuuta as daring him to tell him to leave. Kirihaya had the same look on his face. Yuuta knew the Seigaku regulars wouldn't leave. After all, it was because of them that he found out something that he never knew before about his aniki.

The Hyoutei regulars looked expectedly to him. Since their buchou didn't show the sign to leave, they didn't see why they should leave. Of course Kabaji just showed a blank expression like always. No one knew if he really wanted to know or just be there for Atobe. Mukahi just didn't want to lose a chance to watch a good show, so naturally Oshitari stayed to make sure he would out of trouble.

Ohtori felt bad about all this. He didn't think it was their right to be here but he didn't dare to be unrespectful to his senpai tachi. Especially Atobe. It wouldn't be wise to against his buchou's big ego.

"Leave."

Atobe's authoritative voice had startled everyone. Ohtori accepted the command without question with silent understanding, followed by Shishido who merely grunted. Mukahi wanted to object but Oshitari dragged him off quickly. Even after all the punishment, Mukahi still didn't know how to close his mouth. Kabaji 'usu'-ed and followed them obediently.

"Hmm, I must be going now. Thank you for the invitation, Fuji-kun." Yukimura's soft voice broke the awkward silence.

Yukimura lifted an eyebrow to his fellow team mates. Kirihara stayed silent, stubbornly keeping his hands in his pockets. His Buchou just shook his head and turned to Sanada.

"I'll leave him to you. Make sure that he wouldn't make any trouble, ne, Sanada?" He patted Sanada's shoulder gently and left.

"Mm." Sanada nodded. "Please be careful on your way home, Yukimura."

Yukimura smiled at him sweetly. "You too."

Yuuta looked at around. Since it seemed that no one else was leaving, Yuuta sighed in defeat. So he went to call his neesan.

---

Yumiko was surprised to see that there were still so many people left. She frowned while debating whether she should tell them what they wanted to know.

"We're really sorry for bothering you, Yumiko-Neesan." Eiji said quickly. "But we're really worried about Fuji. He wasn't himself these past weeks. And the talk between us leads us to more questions than answers. But… Our intention to help him is really sincere. Honest!"

Yumiko's gaze had softened when she heard Eiji's words.

"That's really kind of you all. I know that we shouldn't let Shuusuke drown in his grief all this time. I just don't know what to do. I'm afraid we'll lose him for good if we keep pushing him."

They looked at her expectedly.

"First of all, I want you to tell me what you know about Shuusuke."

They looked at each other. They never expected her to ask them that. Finally Eiji was the first one to speak.

"We know that Fuji never likes to talk about his birthday. Inui here had noted the pattern of days when Fuji missed school. And there're some symptoms too before he disappeared."

Yumiko seemed interested about the patterns. So Inui explained the patterns and the symptoms to her. Also about Yuuta's assumption that Fuji's birthday was at the first days of March, but they still didn't know about the exact date.

"Yuuta said Fuji got a scholarship in US when he was ten years old. Oh, and Fuji had a photographic memory!" Eiji exclaimed.

Atobe twitched. So Fuji had a photographic memory. That's mean it was Fuji's choice to ignore him and pretended he didn't knew him when they met again.

"Fuji-senpai reads various books, mostly math. There're spiritual books and traveling books also." Ryoma stated. While he was speaking, Tezuka frowned at the blank look in his eyes. It was as if he was there physically, but his heart was somewhere else. "He also had published his pictures twice. The first one was published 3 years ago in US while the second one was published 1 year ago in Japan."

Ryoma could see a bewilded expression from the others, except of Seigaku regulars. Kikumaru-senpai didn't waste any time to tell the other regulars about their little adventure to Fuji's house after their left. So all the Seigaku regulars already knew about it. Kikumaru had acted like a knight that had returned safely after encounter a dragon's wrath.

"He entered a young tennis tournament when he was nine years old and became the champion." Atobe said dryly. "He had started tennis only 6 months at that time. It was the first and the last time he entered the tennis tournament."

"During that tournament, he was accompanied by two boys. Atobe thought they were Saeki and Tezuka. But Tezuka said it wasn't him." Sanada said calmly.

"Fuji was born premature. His health wasn't so good when he was little. That's why he stayed with his grandmother at Chiba and befriended Saeki-kun." Oishi said.

Yumiko seems more interested to Kisarasu Ryou's story. About Fuji's call to the sea horses' story.

"Saa, it seems you really did your research." Yumiko said calmly. "Hmm, I don't know where I should begin to tell you."

Everyone looked at her expectedly.

"First of all, Shuusuke's birthday is at February, not March."

"Nani? But… I… we…"

"Calm down, Yuuta. I think I know why you could mistaken remember Shuusuke's birthday. Because most of it we celebrated his birthday at March 1st."

Yuuta was speechless.

"Shuusuke's birthday is at February 29th."

Ryoma's eyes widened. "Of course… The missing date."

"You're right." Yumiko nodded. "That's why we always celebrated Shuusuke's birthday at March 1st when February 29th wasn't on that year. So no wonder Yuuta thought Shuusuke's birthday was on March. You were still too young that time, Yuuta."

Yuuta scolded. He felt like an idiot. Then he remembered something.

"Neesan, you said Aniki's best friend had died. Who was it? Why didn't I ever hear Aniki mention about that person?"

"Well, Shuusuke refused to talk about it. I could understand his feelings. With his photographic memory, the accident that happened almost five years ago would always seem like it happened yesterday for him."

The movement was very subtle, but Yumiko noticed Ryoma cringe.

Then she continued with a sad look in her eyes. "He would always remember every detail of that tragic moment forever."

"The first weeks after the accident, Shuusuke hardly slept because he kept dreaming abut the accident. So not only he saw it over and over again in his mind, he saw it too in his dream. He had a terrible case of insomnia because of it. And he also had trouble eating. It was really a hard time for us all."

Yumiko's voice sounded distant. She thought back at that tragic accident. She had thought it wouldn't be long before she would lose her brother too because of Shuusuke's reaction that time. Nobody dared to say anything. They just waited patiently for her to continue.

"His name is Katsuhiko. Tsukino Katsuhiko."

The Seigaku regulars looked bewilded.

"Katsuhiko as written in kanji 'victory' and 'man'?" Eiji asked.

"Yes, that's right. How do you know?"

The Seigaku regulars looked at each other.

So Oishi told the others about their meeting with the little soccer player boy. Inui added about what he found from Inoue. The other boys were surprised to find out that Fuji had played soccer and that he was really good at it.

"Yes, they were playing soccer before. The reason for Shuusuke to join the young tennis tournament only once was because he was busied with soccer. You see, the three of them had become the candidates of All Japan Under Twelfth. So they had trained harder. Besides, they were not only the players at their school team but also the coaches."

They looked surprised.

"The three of them?" Kisarasu Ryou asked.

"Yes. Kojirou as the goal keeper, Katsuhiko as forward, and Shuusuke as middle field."

So Saeki used to play soccer too. The information was too much for them.

"Fuji-san, you said that they were not only players but also coaches. Why could that happen?" Tezuka asked curiously.

"Our Obaasan's home was at Katsuura city at Chiba Prefecture, not at the city where Kojirou lives now. Katsuura is a beautiful city near the sea. There's a little forest near the sea. With good nature, it was a perfect environment for living. But people who used to stay in a modern city wouldn't like it. So there're not many people lived there. And not so many children either. "

"They school was closed because of the lack students. So along Katsuhiko and Kojirou, Shuusuke must be transferred to other schools. They had chosen Mizuho Elementary School, a school that newly builds. I didn't understand why they had chosen it since it didn't have a soccer team. I knew they had offers from schools that concentrated in soccer."

"They had asked permission from the head master to make a soccer team in the first day they joined Mizuho. Since it was a new team, lots of things still not ready. They didn't have a coach so they the one who teach the others. They had only 11 members so they didn't have substitute. But do you know? Since the first time they entered the tournament, Mizuho never lost. They became a legend. People had expected a lot of the three of them."

They were speechless. Yumiko's story added with what Inui said to them made them realized that Fuji was not only good in soccer. Fuji was really really good in soccer. To be known as 'The Field Magician' in Japan and Fantasista at above, also to reach MVP at the world championship even though for people under twelfth years old.

"Well, it seems that Fuji's staying at Chiba was really good for his health." Atobe said dryly. "He surely made an amazing story there. He could even spend a little time for tennis back then."

He felt offended that Fuji only joined the young tennis championship with a half hearted and yet he beated him viciously. And after that, Fuji just simply threw tennis away.

"I don't think Shuusuke joined that tennis tournament willingly."

Everyone turned to Yumiko with surprised.

"At my visited to Katsuura, I found out that Kojirou had started learning tennis because of an old man that had a playground on his yard."

The Seigaku regulars turned to Ryou. So Rokkoku's coach was the one who responsible to bring Fuji and Saeki to tennis.

"Shuusuke had learned it to accompany Kojirou. Katsuhiko didn't interest in tennis and only teasing them. A few months later I visited Shuusuke again. I knew that something happened during that period. I just couldn't find out what was it. All I know is that the three became much closer because of it. And one thing for sure, Shuusuke didn't want to play tennis anymore."

Everyone looked surprised. They couldn't think a reason for why Fuji had suddenly despised tennis.

"So I think the reason for Shuusuke to join the tournament was to accompany Kojirou. Kojirou had joined the tournament but he was lost at the first matches."

"How did Katsuhiko die?" Yuuta asked after a long silence. "And you said he was died at Aniki's birthday. At that time there wasn't February 29th was it?"

Yumiko looked sad.

"They were just come back from the world championship under twelfth. Shuusuke's leg was injured at that final match. He couldn't use his leg freely for weeks. Then it took him more time to be able to walk without the crutch. At their journey home from school, there was a drunken high school boy who rides a car. He wasn't legal enough to drive! He was too drunk to know what happen."

"Shuusuke was standing near the traffic light. The light already turned red for awhile. Shuusuke knew he couldn't cross the street quick enough because of his injury so he decided to wait until the light turned to red again. That drunken boy had led his car straight to where Shuusuke stood."

Everyone looked at her with wide eyes.

"Shuusuke couldn't move fast enough because of his injury. Katsuhiko had run back from across the street to push Shuusuke away. He got the full impact from the crash. The car had spinned aside and crashed Shuusuke's injured leg too. They were brought to the hospital. Shuusuke's injury became worse but he survived. As for Katsuhiko… He didn't make it."

Everyone was silent. No one knew what to say. It was an awful accident. It should be avoided if that high school was sober enough. It made everyone felt sad that a young life must go in vain.

"The accident was happened at February 28th afternoon. Katsuhiko struggled to hold on much longer than what the doctors expected. When it was almost midnight, Katsuhiko asked the doctors to let Shuusuke and Kojirou met him. He said that he was sorry he couldn't fulfill his promise to Shuusuke that year. But he was glad that he had the opportunity to say happy birthday to Shuusuke for the last time. He passed away no longer after the day switched to March 1st."

"Till now I still think that Katsuhiko was the reason for Shuusuke's ever-present smile. He had asked Shuusuke to always smile because he loved Shuusuke's smile. But I think Katsuhiko didn't mean for Shuusuke to hide everything behind his smile. He just asked Shuusuke to not be sad. Shuusuke took the words literally."

"Fuji-san," Inui said. "I could understand the reason for Fuji's disappearing in the pattern before his birthday. Do you probably know the reason for Fuji's disappearing at December?"

"I believe it was because Katsuhiko's birthday was at December 11th. I do notice that Shuusuke became more depressed around his birthday and Katsuhiko's. Every morning he just went in his school uniform as usual but he never reached the school. I found out about it after the school informed me. So I told them that Shuusuke was sick. Because it was the truth. But the sickness is not in his physic, it's in his heart."

Yuuta debated with himself whether he should ask the question in front of the others. Finally he braced himself.

"Neesan, why do our parents like that?"

Yumiko looked at her otouto with a blank expression.

"I don't know what you mean, Yuuta."

"Neesan, onegai." Yuuta looked at her determinedly. "I know. I'm not blind. Well, not anymore!"

"I think what Fuji-kun wanted to ask is about Fuji's relationship with your parents." Inui said while adjusting his glasses.

There's a silence. Inui had stated the matter so clearly. The listeners had split into two groups. One who wanted to hear the answer while the others thought they had already crossed the limit that they should back off right there. Yumiko silenced made the uneasiness heavier.

"Yuuta," It was Yumiko who broke the silence first. "Our parents love us all. You know that right?"

Yuuta didn't know what to say. He wanted to believe Yumiko's words. God knew how much he wanted to believe it. But these days made him hard to believe it. Yuuta loved his aniki. His aniki always protected him. It was his turn to protect his aniki. Even if that means he must against his own parents.

"They do. That's the truth. They just…" Yumiko's voice had quieter. "They just don't know how to reach him."

"Why? Aniki is not a trouble boy that hard to get through!"

"Of course he isn't!" Yumiko snapped. "It just…"

She stopped again. Everyone became more curious. What was the big secret about?

"Shuusuke is a bright child." Yumiko suddenly said.

They looked at each other. They didn't understand why the conversation had switched suddenly.

"He is a bright child from the moment he was born." Yumiko seems lost in her thought. "Yes, Shuusuke was born premature. His condition was not good. The doctors said he would not make it to one month."

They looked at her bewilded.

"I still remembered how the joyous expression that our parents had turned to despair. They had waited so long before they finally had the son that they had long expected. Okaasan had cried. But they were not giving up. One month was passed and Shuusuke had struggled to live. Their hope was raised. After another examination, the doctors said Shuusuke had reached his limit. He wouldn't reach his two months."

"Okaasan cried. But they refused to give up. They hoped and they hoped. And Shuusuke was fought hard, he reached his two months weakly. The doctor then said he wouldn't reach his three months. Then Otousan… He didn't want Okaasan to cry all the time. He hated to see her devasted. So he talked to Okaasan to try to give birth again."

"What?" Yuuta asked harshly.

"Okaasan is not a strong person, Yuuta. I think you have known it too. Otousan didn't want Okaasan to keep her hope high only to be broken when her hope is just a dream. Shuusuke's progress didn't look so good. It was the only thing he could think of. If the new baby is born, Okaasan's grief would be lessening because of the new baby."

"How could they do that?" Yuuta yelled furiously. "It would be like they didn't expect Aniki to live!"

"Yuuta, I had told you the reason. And I expect you to honor that. Each of us is a different individual. Each has their own way to solve a problem. You can not expect everyone to do what you think they should do." Yumiko said sternly.

"Neesan, how could you say that? Don't tell me that you agree with them! Do you think what they do was right? Do you think that's needed?"

"What I think doesn't matter!" Yumiko's voice raised.

She stopped when she realized she had let her emotion to take control.

"What I think if I face the similar situation is for me to know." Yumiko said softly. "But I understand Otousan's reason. He loves Okaasan so much. If he must chose between the woman that he had spent years together with a child that could not make it to his three months living, even though the child was his, he definitely would choose her."

Yuuta didn't say anything. He could see Yumiko's reason now. But still… It was not fair for Shuusuke. He never thought before about his birthday which was closed with his aniki's birthday. Of course a pregnant woman could only feed her newly born baby with milk and baby foods from factory. It made he felt that Shuusuke was an unwanted child.

"What makes it worse is that Shuusuke remembered."

Yuuta turned his head to Yumiko with shocked.

"I said that he is a bright child right?" Yumiko smiled sadly. "Shuusuke has a photographic memory. But it is not the same like we used to hear. Shuusuke's ability makes him couldn't forget anything he sees and hears from the moment he was born."

Everyone looked bewilded.

"He even remembers the music that Okaasan used to play when she was pregnant. He could said his thank you to the nurse that had took care of him after he was birth. We never told him about her, we didn't even remember how she was looked like. But he did."

Ryoma let out his breath. He didn't realize he had held it. Everyone looked so tense. Yuuta's face was paler. Of course Ryoma knew what made Fuji's otouto so worried.

"If Aniki remembered everything, that's mean…"

"Yes," Yumiko nodded. "He knew that he wasn't expecting to live."

Yuuta bited his lower lip. There was a long silence that followed.

"What did the doctor say when Fuji reached his three months?" Eiji asked quietly.

"The diagnosis made them said the same. Only the time became longer. They said Shuusuke wouldn't live to his one year birthday, then three, then fifth. But Shuusuke proofed them wrong. The last he got his general check up was when he was six. The doctor said he wouldn't live till his tenth birthday. But Shuusuke's condition became better and better after he stayed in Katsuura. So Obaasan didn't bring him to take another check up."

Everyone was relief. So Fuji was overwhelming the doctors' diagnosis. Just as what you would expect from Fuji.

"Shuusuke was a quiet child." Yumiko continued. "He never cried like any babies. He just watched everything that happened around him. I believe his gift made him a curious little one. He had observed everything silently. Shuusuke could do anything faster than usually a baby would do. He could walked and talked faster than any babies. I remembered his first words and the chaos that happened because of it."

Everyone waited curiously.

"Okaasan was going to buy milk and baby portridge for him. She took me and Shuusuke along. Shuusuke was only eight months old. He looked at Okaasan that chosed the item she wanted to buy. Suddenly he said 'Ie, 'kaachan. Awful. Want that.' He pointed to a different brand."

"The words still not perfectly said but we could understood what Shuusuke wanted to tell us. Okaasan was so shocked that she dropped the goods. There were some people, even our neighbors. They were gathering around us and said their impress about how smart Shuusuke was. Okaasan just said her thank you and left quickly."

"Okaasan had locked us in the house for days. She was afraid to hear what others would say. She avoided Shuusuke too like she was afraid to him. Poor Shuusuke. He didn't know what mistake that he made. He just stared to Okaasan from afar silently."

No body knew what to say. It was not a story that they had expected to hear.

"Shuusuke is a sensitive boy too. And the days after that incident, things turn out worse. News spread so fast. Family, friends and neighbors came. They praised Shuusuke so high. It should be a good thing. But Shuusuke looked terrified to them. I couldn't understand at that time."

"But when Okaasan finally felt better and took us out, we accidentally heard the neighbors talked."

"_Yes, that Fuji's little boy is surely a prodigy. He could understand what we said. He could answered our questions even though his vocabulary is still not much. At least we could understand what he wanted to say."_

"_That's right. I can't believe that a boy that not even reaches one year could talk so good. My son was three years old when he knew vocabulary that much. And he couldn't even understand what I said fully."_

"_But isn't it frightening? It isn't normal for kids to be able to do that at that age right?"_

"_You're right. We couldn't know what run in the mind of a child like that. Even though Fuji's son is a prodigy, I'm grateful that my daughter is normal."_

"Okaasan didn't say anything. But she tried to not let Shuusuke be outside too much because she didn't want to hear more talks. Everything he did, people talked behind us. Shuusuke became quieter everyday."

"And much of Okaasan's attention was for you, Yuuta. You were the 'normal' child that she and Otousan expected. They cheered when you said your first word and took your first step. Everytime Shuusuke just watched from afar. He didn't even reach two years when he heard that."

"_I can't take it! Why did he keep looking at me like that? Like he was judging me had treated him unfair!"_

"_Please calm down, dear. It's just your imagination. Shuusuke is just a little boy." He gently soothed his wife._

"_It wasn't just my imagination! He kept stared at me. He kept looking at whatever I do! Why didn't he say anything. Just looked at me silently with wide eyes. I couldn't understand what is running in his mind. A not so sweet child!"_

_Outside their bedroom, Yumiko couldn't move. She couldn't come to ask their parents to take them to the zoo like she wanted to do before. Shuusuke stood silently. He pulled his hand from his neesan grip then walked to their room with his unstable steps._

Yuuta looked to her with wide eyes. With Shuusuke's photographic memory, it means that… He shook his head. He didn't want to think about it.

"How could they?" His voice was barely a whisper. "How could they!"

He almost yelled the last sentence.

"Yuuta, their reaction is normal." Yumiko said sadly. "Every parents have their own ideal picture about the child they would have. They already imagine about how they would teach their child to talk, to walk. How they would answer their child's innocent question about everythings."

"With Shuusuke, it was different. His ability was beyond their imagination. It was normal to be shock and afraid about it. As long as they could try to move on and accepted that. But Shuusuke's inability to forget created a thick wall between them. Times only make it worse. Our parents already didn't know how to get through that wall."

"Shuusuke's sensitive also made his condition worse."

That took everyone's attention.

"He never said what he felt about everything. He kept them to himself. But his distress had affected his metabolism. He couldn't eat properly. He kept throw up what he ate behind us. We finally found out about it when he was collapsed. The doctor had suggested Otousan to take Shuusuke to a child psychiatrist."

"Shuusuke didn't say anything. The psychiatrist finally could only suggest our parents to take easy to him, to give him more attention. Till that time, Shuusuke couldn't eat much. Okaasan had stopped to push him to eat more after awhile. Because it had distressed Shuusuke more and he kept throwing up. At least if she didn't push him, Shuusuke could eat even for a little."

The news was really shocked them. They never knew that Fuji had eating disorder when he was a little.

"He grew so thin and his tall is shorter than kids that his age. As you grew up, you demanded more attention too. The neighbors talked became more often. They talked that Shuusuke was a prodigy. That he would be able to join Elementary School even though he was just fifth years old. Of course Okaasan knew that their praise wasn't sincere. But with all the distress that she endured, she talked to Otousan about letting Shuusuke to enter Elementary."

"After some tests, the school's principal agreed to let Shuusuke joined with the fifth grade students. But that was the beginning for Shuusuke's hell. It turned out worse till Shuusuke refused to talk to anyone. That was the reason why Obaasan took him to stay with here at Katsuura."

---

Tsuzuku…

Well, I don't know about the tradition in yours. I'm a Chinesse girl. Chinesse people never celebrates birthday earlier than the birth date. They believe it would bring bad luck. They say it could make the birthday one's age become shorter. Since Japanesse people's history had a related with Chinesse people (they say Japanesse's ancestor were Chinesse people that left their country and lived together with the origin people there), I assume that they would feel the same way about celebrate birthday earlier.

I used Tsukino as Katsu's last name. Because tsuki means moon. That's why Fuji knew that drinking the moon ritual was Katsu's idea, not Saeki.

Katsuura is a real city in Chiba Prefecture. It's location is near the sea. There's some forest near the sea that used as Katsuura Elephant Paradise (a place where elephants could live freely). The information was from Reaching For A Star by Orihara Mito, a story that based from Japan's first elephant tamer. But all about minor sum of people that live there was a make up since I don't know about the condition there. Although I read a lot Japanesse mangas about some schools that must be closed or merged because of less students they have.

In this story, Saeki's home now is at the town near Katsuura. He moved there before he went to Rokkaku because his dad got transferred there, after he graduated from Mizuho. Mizuho has Elementary School to High School in this story. So if the accident didn't happen, the three of them would go to Mizuho Junior High together.

Yes, Fuji's soccer life was inspirited from Kubo in Ooshima Tsukasa-sensei's manga, Shoot. I changed the name Kakegawa to Mizuho. Also Kubo was entered Kakegawa High School while Fuji and the others joined Mizuho Elementary School.

Fuji's eating disorder was happened when he was around forth years old. The idea I got from Tears Of Sheep, a manga by Hidaka Banri-sensei. The main idea was that whenever Fuji was under a lot of stress he couldn't eat anything without throw up. Because it was continue days after days, his stomatch was adjusted. He couldn't eat much. At the time he was in Seigaku, he could only eat a small portion (kid's portion). When he was upset, he barely eat anything.

So what's wrong at the past that lead Fuji to stop speaking to everyone? The next chapter would also be the first time Fuji met Saeki and Katsu. And of course, Yumiko only knew half the truth. There're things that she didn't know about Fuji's past. Some of her story was only her guessing since Fuji never said anything to her about his suffering. Some of the guessing is correct. But there is something that deeper than what she saw. You just have to wait till Saeki's turn to share his part of story.

Buchou : captain

Fukubuchou : vice captain

Nani : what

Dakara : because of that

Obaasan : grandmother

Onegai : please

Okaasan : mother

Otousan / oyaji : father

Ie : no


	8. His Silence

Disclamer : Tennis No Ohjisama belong to Konomi Takeshi-sensei.

Words in /….: someone's thoughts

Words in _Italic_ : flashback

For Lena, don't worry. Saeki would have his own chapter after this. Actually, it would be chapters since he would have a lot to explain.

A Half-Second Dream

Chapter 8 : His Silence

"I thought Fuji stayed at Chiba because of his health." Atobe's voice broke the silence.

"Well, Shuusuke never said anything about his condition. Even when he was sick, he just kept it for himself. I think he didn't want to be a bother. We only knew he was ill when he was very, very sick that he couldn't hide it anymore. But the reason for him to stay at Katsuura wasn't because he was physically sick."

Yumiko placed her right hand upon her heart and said, "The sickness was in here."

"Why did Fuji stop to talk?" Tezuka asked quietly.

Yumiko looked to Yuuta for a second. Yuuta had a bad feeling about it, he just didn't know what.

"I didn't feel comfortable with the idea that Shuusuke entered Elementary School at such a young age. I remembered all the adults' talk about Shuusuke's ability. The thought that I wouldn't know what he went through really made me worried. So I asked my kohai to take care of Shuusuke. Also to let me know if he went through troubles."

They looked at each other. Nobody said a word but they thought it must run in the family- the overprotective way that the siblings showed for they loved ones.

"I noticed that Shuusuke became much quieter after he went to school. He ate lessen, just wrapped the foods when he thought we wouldn't notice. I found out that he gave the foods to the abandon dogs and cats later. Also the bruises that formed on his body. But every time I asked him about how was school, Shuusuke always said it was great. I asked my kohai about it. After all, my kohai was the student representative."

"He said he was sorry that he didn't tell me sooner. But he just didn't know how to tell me about it. It seems that Shuusuke's brilliant made his school mates unhappy about it. They questioned his reason to go to school since he didn't need it. I mean, he got the first rank effortless while the others must study hard. They even cruelly mocked in front of him that he went to school only because he didn't have anything to do. They ignored him at school and even bullied him."

"How could they?" Eiji asked. He looked at Yumiko with wide eyes that showed his shocked.

Ryoma didn't say anything but he couldn't help to clench his fists. And though he couldn't understand why, he felt a strange pain in his chest. At that very moment, he wanted more than anything to do something… _anything _to see his senpai's smiling face again… but what? What could he possibly do? And besides, why did he suddenly care? It wasn't like he was Fuji-senpai's close friend and all. So then… He shook his head. This was really starting to get weird.

His gaze then fell on Tezuka. He could see the grim expression in Tezuka's face, as well as Sanada's, while the others showed their anger more freely.

"People say that children are innocent and pure. They didn't know that sometimes children could be crueler than adults. Adults could mask what they feel. They could say something that they didn't mean it only to make them look like a better person. Not something that could be proud at I know. But children…" Yumiko trailed off.

"Shuusuke suffered from all their harsh words and also they're beating. But he never said anything to us. Sadly, he didn't think he could trust anyone about it. Beside, I think he felt ashamed that he was so weak that he couldn't do anything to defend himself. All the bullied that he received really bad for his self esteem. I wanted to help him, to defend him. But I know it would only make everything worse. They would bully him more if they thought he asked his sister to help."

"He used to go home quickly after school to be with you, Yuuta. You were always being something that could cherish him. But you were bored when you were left alone when we went to school. And at that time you were always followed what Shuusuke did. You asked Okaasan to let you go to school. Of course at first she refused. But you kept whining and crying so finally she said yes."

"After you entered playgroup, Shuusuke used to come home to the empty house since Okaasan always went to pick you up. I happened to find out that Shuusuke often put a small wild flower at Okaasan's desk. He never said that it was him who gave the flowers. He just hid and watched when Okaasan picked the flowers. Shuusuke seems so fascinated to see Okaasan's soft smile when she smelled the flowers. I guess it was because Shuusuke rarely saw Okaasan smiled so freely like that."

"He became bolder after he saw how much Okaasan loved his flowers. He made a jewel box at the art lesson for Mother Day. He remembered the antique wodden box that had Okaasan's attention when they went to shop together. He could make the wodden box as similar as the one they saw. The soft but detail crafts around the box… His work could be competing with any professional's work."

"He gave the gift to Okaasan. I still remembered how the spark in his eyes died when he saw Okaasan's reaction. She was upset. She asked Shuusuke about how he got that gift. Okaasan thought Shuusuke used his ability for money so he could buy the gift."

Yumiko seems hesitated to continue. When she finally continued, they didn't expect her to tell them that.

"Okaasan said even if they were only wild flowers, she would be more than happy to accept that. She told him that you often gave her flowers, Yuuta. She said you never admitted that you did it but she knew."

Yuuta was speechless. He couldn't imagine how his aniki felt when he heard it. It must be like a hard slap for him.

"Shuusuke never came straight home again from that time. He always waited till long after you came home. He said that he played with his friends. Okaasan accepted and didn't ask about it anymore. Since Okaasan had a lot of free time after you went to playgroup, she started to work again at home. After she became busier, she even allowed Shuusuke to pick you up.

"Of course all the talk about playing with his friends was a lie. I skipped one day to follow him. My worry was true. He didn't play with anyone. He just wandered alone till it was time to go to your playgroup."

Again, Tezuka couldn't help himself to think about how similar Fuji's over protective attitude with his neesan. Of course in Yumiko's case it was understandable.

"His six birthday came. Deep inside I already guessed that he wouldn't want to celebrate it. The wodden box incident was still fresh in my mind. And I was right, Shuusuke excused himself. He said he had promised his friends to go somewhere. Okaasan… let him. At the next year, Shuusuke already at Katsuura and never went home at his birthday for straight three years. He always spent it with Kojirou and Katsuhiko."

Ryoma stared hard at Yumiko. There was something in the pause when Yumiko said her mother let Fuji-sempai that made him thought Yumiko didn't tell all the truth. She was hiding something.

"At the playgroup that you went, there're children that they siblings were Shuusuke's classmate. They heard what they elders said about Shuusuke and they started to mock you. Well, they mocked Shuusuke. And that made you angry and started a fight with them. You're beat them bad. Shuusuke must apologize and begged your teachers to not tell our parents."

Yuuta frowned. He couldn't remember that incident. He did remember that he had a lot of fights back then. He just couldn't remember the reason.

"We asked you about the reason you fought but you refused to say anything. Those boys' siblings were very unhappy about the fight. They had hurted Shuusuke at school. Shuusuke didn't fight back. He let them beat him to release their anger. So they wouldn't go after you."

"But they weren't satisfied. Shuusuke was late to pick you at that day. He must tend his wounds at the nursery. Of course he didn't say the reason of his wounds. He only said that he was careless and fell from the stairs. When he came to your playgroup, you weren't they. The boys had picked you to the park and started to insult Shuusuke and you as his otouto."

"You were angry and fought back. They were easily knocked you down. That was when Shuusuke arrived. He quickly stood between you and them to shield you. I was there too because I was worried about how you were doing after the fight you had the day before."

"Shuusuke was always holding back when he was bullied. But when it came to you, he fought back. He didn't care that they were older and stronger than him. He practically jumped to the leader and started to hit him. The others tried to help. No matter how many they threw him down, Shuusuke always stood and fought back again."

Yuuta looked with wide eyes. He did remember that fight. He was thinking about it too when he had his first match with Echizen back then. He didn't remember the reason why those boys gave him trouble but he remembered he fought back and his aniki came to his rescue.

"Those boys finally gave up. They cried because their fists were hurt and yet Shuusuke didn't seem to withdraw. They finally ran away. You didn't say anything and just followed Shuusuke home. You did cry when Shuusuke cleaned the dirt on your face."

"Weeks passed. You still refused to tell us the reason for your fight. We didn't push you since those boys didn't after you anymore. They didn't hurt Shuusuke too. They just simply ignored him. The others followed them since they were some kind of leader at their school. Well, I guess it was too much to hope that everything would turn out better after that. It was the best that could happen at that time."

"Shuusuke didn't mind. I think he was relief that they would let him alone. He spent his time to play with you at home. But you always refused to go and played outside. You always had some excuses so you both just stayed at home. But one day Okaasan asked Shuusuke to take you to play at the park since she wanted to clean the house. You refused and said you want to stay at home."

"When you saw Okaasan wouldn't let you stayed, you said that you would go with your friends. Shuusuke wanted to go with you to make sure you would be out from trouble. You tried to stop him but Okaasan was agreed with him because she didn't want you to go alone. That was when you exploded. You yelled that you didn't want him to accompany you so your friends wouldn't think you were a geek like him."

Yuuta was so shocked. He could feel others' stare at him unbelievingly. He shook his head in denial.

"No, you lied. I wouldn't say anything like that." Yuuta said with shaky voice. "How couldn't I remember anything if I really did that?"

Yumiko looked at him with sad eyes.

"I'm sorry, Yuuta, but it was the truth."

"No." Yuuta whispered, still shook his head.

"How did Fuji-senpai take it?" Ryoma asked quietly.

Yumiko was silenced. They could see the pain in her eyes as she thought back at that time.

"Shuusuke's expression went blank. Okaasan couldn't say anything. She couldn't even look at him. I wanted to comfort him but he just ran outside without saying a word. I took Yuuta out and left Okaasan alone. We didn't say anything until Yuuta suddenly cried."

She looked at Yuuta softly.

"I think you couldn't remember that incident because of what I told you. You see, you told me when you cried that you were sorry. That you didn't mean to say all that. You just couldn't bare that Shuusuke was insulted by your friends and they siblings. You wanted to stand for him like he did for you. But you just didn't know how to do it."

"You were desparated to do something yet you didn't know what to do. So you tried to protect Shuusuke from the world by made him stayed in the house, away from all the meany people. You were so sad because you thought Shuusuke would hate you then."

"I told you that everything would be alright. I asked you to forget about it and be nice when we found Shuusuke. We found him alone at the park. I told him that you were sorry and you didn't mean it. He just kept silence. You hugged him while crying that you were sorry over and over. Shuusuke stayed silence, but he returned your embrace."

"We went home in silence. I thought he just needed some time to think. But he still didn't say anything when we arrived home. Nor that he replied to Okaasan's welcome. Dinner passed and yet he still silenced. Okaasan even shook him hard because she was depressed and worried to see Shuusuke's behavior. All came to no avail."

"Our parents decided to let Shuusuke stayed at home. They thought it was the stress that made Shuusuke that way. Three days passed with him in silence. Finally our parents couldn't take it anymore. They took him to the doctor. The doctor said that wasn't anything wrong with his vocal chord. The problem was in Shuusuke's heart. So they took him to psychiatrist."

"She couldn't help much since Shuusuke refused to talk. So she couldn't know the problem. The psychiatrist only asked our parents to be patient. She also asked them to give Shuusuke time and love so he would open up."

No body knew what to say. How could anyone know that behind Fuji's always smiling face hidden a lot of sorrow? The Seigaku regulars felt like someone had slapped them. They had spent so much time with Fuji, the third grade already knew him for more than two and a half years. Even Ryoma knew him for almost a year now. And yet they didn't know anything about his past.

"It led more problems for our parent. Because of they work, they didn't think they couldn't spend much time with him or shower him with love and care twenty four hours and seven days nonstop. That was when Obaasan came. Okaasan already informed her about Shuusuke's condition. "

"Obaasan decided to take Shuusuke to stay with him at Katsuura. Of course you objected. You were crying while holding Shuusuke tightly, refused to let him go. Shuusuke just hugged you in silence. Obaasan tried to persuade you. She said that Shuusuke was sick. And Katsuura's environment would be good for his health. So Shuusuke would be able to talk again. The last one was the reason why you finally let him go."

Yuuta was angry. How could they parents put their work first than their own child? How could they have a heart to stay apart with their own child? Especially when the child was in so much pain like that?

"At Katsuura, Shuusuke attended new school. He was joining the first grade with children that were his age. Obaasan didn't want Shuusuke's ability became a burden for him. So she treated him like any normal child, not as a special one. She told him that he didn't need to worry to be the first at classes. Shuusuke just had to be happy."

"He met Kojirou and Katsuhiko there. I must say that Obaasan's decision was right. Three months after he stayed there, Shuusuke looked happier. He even played and joked with other children. Shuusuke was especially closed with Kojirou and Katsuhiko. Another three months passed before Shuusuke finally talked again."

They thought about everything that they heard. Fuji must be really trusted them that it only took him six months to be able to talk again. Saeki and Tsukino definetely had something inside them that deserved to have their respect.

"Fuji-san, do you by any chance have Tsukino's picture?" Atobe asked politely.

Atobe was dying to know how Katsuhiko's look was. For almost nine years he thought it was Tezuka who with Fuji at the match. He wanted to know how could he was wrong.

"Why, I do have their picture together." Yumiko smiled knowingly.

Yumiko went to her room. No body said anything. They still thought about what they had learnt about Fuji's past.

"Here you go."

Atobe took the frame from Yumiko. There was an old picture that shown a younger version of Fuji. With him, they could recognized little Saeki and a boy with dark brown hair. Atobe recognized him at the first glance. There wasn't anything that looked like Tezuka except for the color of his hair and eyes. He couldn't understand why he made the mistake.

"I don't see anything that resemblance Buchou from Tsukino. Well, except for the hair and eyes' color." Eiji said after pearing behind Atobe.

Tezuka didn't say anything. He just looked at the picture thoughtfully.

"I don't think the resemblances are in the look, Eiji-kun."

"Huh, I don't understand! Nyaa!"

"Katsuhiko was born to be a leader. It wasn't that he asked to be a leader. But the boys looked at him as their leader. I see that quality in Tezuka-kun too. Or am I wrong?"

The Seigaku regulars looked at the picture again and then to Tezuka. Of course no one would deny that Tezuka was born as a leader. The third grades remembered how they looked at him as their anchor at their first grade even though Tezuka always stayed quiet and never showed off his ability.

"Katsuhiko was a very active boy too that sometimes made people misunderstood him. And he was too stone head to say he was sorry. He fought a lot back then. He also had a lot of ideas that sometimes had put them in danger. But still those children had followed him, especially Shuusuke and Kojirou."

"The three of them were really closed. Katsuhiko and Kojirou looked at Shuusuke as their otouto. They even had made a vow with blood to tie them as brother."

They looked bewildered at her. Yumiko smiled softly.

"Like I said, Katsuhiko had a lot of ideas that he never considered about the dangerous side. He read about some gypsy's ceremony and wanted to practice it. The three of them had cut their wrists as they stood in a circle then put their arm so the wounds would met. It was a ceremony to make them be brothers in blood even though they weren't brothers at birth."

"The problem was Shuusuke had accidentally cut too deeply. The blood didn't stop even after they tended their wounds. So finally they dragged Shuusuke to the hospital. I still remember all the chaos there. The doctors thought Shuusuke was committed suicide and pressed him about the matter. Our parents took us to Katsuura because of it. Okaasan was crying hard."

"Then Katsuhiko admitted loudly about why Shuusuke got hurt. He also showed his wounds. And Kojirou showed his wounds to prove Katsuhiko's words. It seems that Shuusuke didn't say anything to protect them so their parents wouldn't know. But they couldn't let him took all the blame. Of course the three of them got yelled at by their parents. They even got grounded."

"Our parents were mad. They didn't want Shuusuke to play with the boys. They said they put a bad example for Shuusuke. But for the first time in his life, Shuusuke refused to follow them. He stood for them. And Obaasan said she guaranteed that they would not be a bad influence for Shuusuke. Finally our parents gave up and let him be."

"Against what our parents feared of, I could see the good influence that they gave Shuusuke. After years of abused, Shuusuke had withdrawn. He became lifeless, there wasn't any desire or spirit in him. It was like he lived his life just for live, as some routinely. That there wasn't anything that made him wanted to live.

"Katsuhiko and Kojirou gave him the reason for live. He became more live. His curiousity and his thirst for knowledge were back. He spent hours at the library, read any materials that got his interest. Katsuhiko's access to internet also spoiled Shuusuke's desire for knowledge. The two let him did that but made sure that he had equal times for fun at outdoor, not just for soccer practice."

"They also took it as their task to make sure Shuusuke ate properly. I was glad that they found out about Shuusuke's eating disorder. Even happier that they didn't react like they felt disgusted to him. Their acceptance was really important to help Shuusuke. Before, it was really hard for Shuusuke to gain more weight even for just 1 kilogram. We were already happy if his weight could stay the same. Those boys helped Shuusuke to have a stable weight then they started to work to add more weight on him. Of course Shuusuke didn't feel too happy about it but the important thing was he cooperated."

The boys stayed quiet. They could see how important Saeki and Tsukino were for Fuji that he was willing to do something that he didn't like.

"Why didn't I meet them at the tournament? From what Atobe and Sanada-san told us, they both accompanied Aniki at that tournament."

Atobe glared at Yuuta. How dare he spoke about him without addressing the honorable way he spoke about Sanada?

"Like I said before, Shuusuke entered the tournament to accompany Kojirou. Something happened that made him didn't feel the same passion to tennis as Kojirou. I knew about the tournament from Obaasan so I wanted to go to cheer him. You wanted to come to so predictably our parents came too. Katsuhiko and Kojirou didn't too fond to our parents so they didn't approach us. I could see them cheered Shuusuke at the opposite fence. You didn't really know them at that time so it was understandable that you didn't notice their presence."

"The funny thing is you were too fascinated with Shuusuke's play that you started to play tennis after it. While on the other hand Shuusuke never touched the racquet again after the tournament. He was started to play tennis again only after he joined Seigaku's tennis club."

They were taken aback, especially Seigaku regulars. The third grades remembered Fuji's play. He surely didn't show as someone who never touched racquet for about three years! Fuji's play was so brilliant that earned him the title as a 'tensai'.

"Then something happened. Shuusuke had tried to solve some math problem that he found out from the Internet. Some problem for students that looked for scholarship. He had posted the answered out of his curiousity, to find out if he was right. Shuusuke never thought that he would win a full scholarship at MIT, US, majoring Mathematic."

"MIT? As Massachuset Institute of Technology?" Ryoma asked bewildedly.

"Yes, Massachuset Institute of Technology."

Everyone had the same expression as Ryoma, except for Eiji and Momoshiro.

"What is that Masasomething nyaa?"

"Eiji, it was Massachuset." Oishi corrected him.

"MIT is one of famous universities at US, Kikumaru-sempai." Ryoma stateted quickly before Eiji humiliated himself more. He could see the way Atobe had looked to the acrobatic boy.

"Unyaa, Fuji won a scholarship for colleage? Sugoi!"

"So Aniki took it." Yuuta said thoughfully.

"Oh no, he refused."

"He did what?" Everyone was surprised.

"Shuusuke e-mailed back to say that he couldn't accept it. He admitted that he had lied about his age when he posted his answer. Shuusuke told them that he was only ninth years going on ten. He apologized for all the trouble that he caused. Of course the jurors of the scholarship didn't buy it but they didn't press him. There were a lot of people that wanted the scholarship."

"But one of the jurors was curious that he flied to Katsuura to meet Shuusuke. He was surprised to find out that Shuusuke indeed just a child. He tested Shuusuke with some math problems that Shuusuke solved them brilliantly. The man was so fascinated with Shuusuke's ability that he wanted to support Shuusuke if he accepted the scholarship. Shuusuke wouldn't have to worry about the cost for his living fee there and also for where he would stay."

They looked at her expectantly.

"Shuusuke refused."

"How could he refuse such an offer?" Ryoma couldn't hide his surprise.

"I think it was the same as why someone I know refused to play at US Open at first." Momoshiro stated calmly.

Ryoma stopped. He glared at his sempai but deep inside he admitted it. Ryoma realized that Fuji-sempai must be feeling the same as his at that time. He must be feeling hard to leave his friends behind. From what Fuji-san told them, he knew how closed Fuji-sempai was with Saeki and Tsukino.

"What made him accept the scholarship in the end?" Tezuka asked.

"Well, the man asked Shuusuke to think about it. He told him to take his time. He said if Shuusuke agreed, he could enter MIT anytime. The man would make sure about it. Shuusuke didn't say anything. At that time he was busied with soccer practice since the three of them had been choose as All Japan Under Twelfth. You all already knew about what happen then."

They nodded silently. They remembered what Yumiko had told them. About Fuji got hurt at the world championship under twelfth till Tsukino's death.

"Shuusuke was too shaken with Katsuhiko's death. He rejected Okaasan that wanted to comfort him. He shut himself from the world. It was like that Katsuhiko was his world. When he gone, there was nothing left for him. And Katsuhiko's parents… They didn't take it too well. After all, Katsuhiko was their only child. After some breakdown, his mother then went into denial. She shut down all the memory about her son. She didn't even remember that she had a child."

Everyone was shocked. When they thought things couldn't get more worse…

"Katsuhiko's father was torment. He didn't want his wife to live in denial yet he was afraid to lose her too if he forced her to accept reality. So in the end he let her. He took her abroad, away from all the memory of their child. Shuusuke… Shuusuke didn't take it well. He blamed himself. Not only he made Katsuhiko lost his life for him, he also had erased Katsuhiko's existence."

"But… But it wasn't Aniki's fault!" Yuuta protested.

"I know. And deep inside Shuusuke knew it too. But sometimes what brain knew heart couldn't accept. There must be someone to blame for that tragedy. And Shuusuke chose to blame himself. Shuusuke was drowning in guilty feeling. He started to withdrawn again until Kojirou snapped him. Kojirou asked him if Shuusuke wanted to waste Katsuhiko's sacrifice for him, to let people said that Katsuhiko died in vain. Then Katsuhiko's existence would really be nothing."

"That what snapped Shuusuke back. He even made a training menu to rehabilitee his injured leg. He really tried to make Katsuhiko's sacrifice mean something. Shuusuke had beat the odds by be able to walk again without a crutch. The doctors could only shook their heads when they saw he was able to walk again even limply. They didn't too surprise though, I guess they were already used to the facts that their analysts never correct when it was about him."

"Even though he didn't need to use crutch anymore, Shuusuke must used some metal that was structured to support the leg. So he didn't work his leg too hard. I thought Shuusuke would be too traumatized with that thing. Shuusuke was used the same metal after he didn't need the crutches. When the accident happened, the metal was crushed that it had pierced his leg and hurted him badly. But Shuusuke didn't say any objection and agreed to use it again."

"Our parents had learnt something from that accident. That nobody could predict their time. They decided to take Shuusuke back to Tokyo and started all over again. So they were shocked when the man from MIT came. We didn't know that Shuusuke had contacted him to say he was accepted the scholarship. So the man came to take him. He wanted Shuusuke had some time to prepare and adjust before he joined MIT at spring."

"Our parents didn't know what to do. They didn't want Shuusuke to go. They knew it was a good opportunity for him but it was too sudden. Only a month had passed after the accident. But Shuusuke insisted that he wanted to go. He also said he wanted to rehabilitee his leg at US. So finally they let him go. Though I think the real reason was to get away from all the memorable places here."

"As you see know, Shuusuke has healed perfectly. No one could know that his leg had been hurted before."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Fuji was in his best condition. His leg had healed. There wasn't any weakness that could be seen in Fuji, except for his false weakness that he had tend to show to mislead his opponents. And Atobe with his insight definitely sure about it.

"Before he went to US, he asked me to tell our parents to never talk about his birthday. He even said he would return all the gifts that we'll give him. Shuusuke asked us to understand and to honor his decision. I couldn't object him. So I promised him."

"Shuusuke graduated as the younger person that ever graduated in Mathematic Faculty, and even the younger at MIT's history. I thought he would never come back to Japan. So I was surprised but relieved that he decided to come back. But Shuusuke had changed. After years aboard, he became very good to hide his feeling. He was always put that smiling mask on his face. He was good too to act like there wasn't anything wrong. Okaasan was felt relief, they could show mother and son's harmony relationship in front of the watchers. But I don't think it was good for him to shield his own feeling like that."

"At that time Obaasan's health was not so good. Shuusuke had accompanied her till she passed away. Before she died, she asked me to take care of Shuusuke. To do what I think best for him. So I asked our parents to let Shuusuke entered Junior High. I remembered the result when Obaasan made him be with children that the same age with him. Our parents were hesitated at first but finally they agreed. I asked Shuusuke if he wanted to go to the same school as Kojirou. I knew that his family wouldn't mind if he stays with them."

"Shuusuke was silenced for a moment. Then he politely refused. He said he didn't want to be a burden for Saeki's family. Also he wanted to be with his family after lived separately for years. I knew it was only excuses. The truth is he couldn't be with Kojirou. It would be too awkward for them to be just them when there used to be the three of them before."

"He looked at some Junior High catalogues then decided that he wanted to enter Seishun Gakuen."

The Seigaku regulars were relief. They didn't know the reason why Fuji chosed Seigaku but they were grateful to Kamisama because of it.

"He chosed Seigaku because he liked it's name. I agree with him. Seishun really is a good name. So our parents had registered him to Seishun Gakuen. I personally asked the head master to keep it low about Shuusuke's academic report. I told him about the abused that he had when he was young because of his genious. Also about the accident that lead Shuusuke to dislike the talk about his birthday."

"The head master is really a very nice man. He understood my worries. He asked me to not worry. After the registration completed, he would put Shuusuke's file inside the safety box at his office so no one would ever read it. He would only tell his trustworthy teachers about Shuusuke had graduated from colleage."

The Seigaku regulars looked at each others. So that was why Inui couldn't find Fuji's file anywhere. Also why Ryuzaki-sensei didn't say anything about Fuji's incomplete data.

"Shuusuke's decision to enter Seigaku was corrected. He was happy there. Of course there were times when he was down, like when Yuuta decided to join St. Rudolph, but he was definitely happy when he was with you all."

Yuuta looked guilty when he heard what Yumiko said.

"But I noticed that he would withdraw when he felt happy. It sems like he felt guilty for being happy. He was punishing himself for Katsuhiko's death. So he couldn't accept that he could be happy after Katsuhiko's death. The stress became heavier, especially around Katsuhiko's birthday and his death. He would skip from school when he couldn't be able put his smiling mask."

No body could say anything. They thought it was wrong for Fuji to keep blame himself while he didn't do anything wrong. That he kept pushing happiness away from him yet they didn't know what to say.

"Even though they were apart, Kojirou always care for Shuusuke. He kept calling him for time to time. He listened to Shuusuke whenever he needed to talk. And Kojirou helped me too. He knew that I was sad that Shuusuke refused to talk about his birthday and to receive birthday gifts. So Kojirou teached me a trick. He told me to give Shuusuke's birthday gift long before or after his birthday. And I shouldn't wrap it as a gift. I should just give the gift and said I saw it in the store and I thought he would like it. Cause it was what he did too."

Yumiko sighed.

"I guess his birth date and his zodiac had a strong influence to his characters."

Yuuta winced. He knew how much his neesan love fortune telling. But Yuuta couldn't deny that she was really good in it. She could know others' characters from their birth date and knew their future with tarots. It was too scary since what she said always right.

"People who born at February 29th is brilliant, ambitious, innovative, not conversional but easy to worry. That was mixed with his zodiac. Uoza people were known as the most sensitive people. They are generous, easy going, lazy, and emotional. All could be seen in Shuusuke. You must be agree with me that Shuusuke could success in everything he does. Yet he would never do it unless he really feel to do it. When he does, he wouldn't stop unless he is at the top. I don't think I have to explain about his emotional state."

They nodded. The regulars also remembered about Fuji's generously to tutor anyone of them that asked for his help. He would put aside his sadistic joke and concentrated on teaching them. Ryoma could even connect the lazy part with the ambitious side. He remembered Fuji's seriousness in the match with Kirihara while he never showed the same effort before.

"But Shuusuke was a premature child. If Okaasan gave birth normally, Shuusuke would be Ohitsujiza or Oushiza. So there were behaviors from both zodiacs in Shuusuke. Ohitsujiza's people is smart, that is matched with Shuusuke birth date. They are also an enthusiasm person, impulsive, brave, and always to the point."

They looked at each other. They still remembered how Fuji didn't hesitate to teach Mizuki a lesson or to beat Jiroh in thirteenth minutes to avenge and save Yuuta's face. Kirihara winced when he remembered the look Fuji gave him after knowing it was him who had hurt Echicen.

"Oushiza's people are known as warm, gentle, stern, and someone who could be depends on. Those characters mixed and make him someone that unique. Shuusuke is sensitive, emotional and unstable in a way, yet he is strong and brave enough to choose to live. But it was torment him, tear him apart with the will to live and another is to give up. I pray and would always pray that he wouldn't fall to the last one. That no matter what life through, he would go on."

There was sadness in her voice. No body knew what to say to comfort her so they stayed silence.

"Saa, that's all I could tell you, boys. Now if you could excuse me…"

They said their thanks to her and let her went to her room. They could see that it was hurting her to tell them that. She even revealed some family secret because of that. So they didn't want to push her anymore.

They stayed silence before one by one they say their goodbye. Before he went, Eiji asked Yuuta to call him if Fuji finally came home. Yuuta nodded quietly.

---

Tsuzuku…

Kohai : junior

Obaasan : grandmother

Tensai : progigy

Sugoi : great, wonderful

Kamisama : God

Seishun : youth

Uoza : Pisces

Ohitsujiza : Aries

Oushiza : Taurus

Abuse has been a sensitive subject at Japan. There has been so many cases of abuse that lead students to commit suicide. A lot of them that chose to live had a closed personality (introvert), had low self-esteem, etc... A lot of mangaka had used this issue as their concern. They hoped that their readers would realize about the horrible things that caused of abused, about how the victims felt and much more. They hoped people could learn from their mangas.

Little wild flowers idea I got from Beyond The Blindfold by Tsukuba Sakura-sensei. The different is that Namiki Masahiro in that story was blessed with the gift to see future that made his parents felt afraid to him. He gave his mother an expensive jewelry that he got by using his power to gain money with cooperate with someone older.

Fuji's study at MIT was inspirited by Toma at QED (by Katou Motohiro). Only Toma was graduated from MIT at 15 years while Fuji joined MIT at 10 years old and graduated at 13 years old. I really made a super Fuji ne? Also, in my country there's a girl who already graduated from colleague in US majoring physics at 16 years old and she could speak 3 languages. So I think, hey maybe it wasn't too shocking if Fuji could do it better than her.

I hope the talk about astrology didn't bore you. I just thought that seem Yumiko knew about fortune telling, tarot and all, maybe she knew about astrology too.


End file.
